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President Donald Trump says he plans to take in an NBA Finals game in New York when the series comes to Madison Square Garden next month. Trump says New York Knicks owner James Dolan asked Trump to join him when the Knicks play either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks reached the finals for the first time since 1999 after sweeping Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals. Trump, a New York native, praised the Knicks' performance and called their return to the championship round after decades of futility "great to see."

Alex Caruso sparked another big effort from the bench and he’s a big reason the Oklahoma City Thunder are on the verge of returning to the NBA Finals. Caruso scored 22 points and made four of eight 3-pointers to help Oklahoma City — down two starters — to a 127-114 victory over San Antonio in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. After five games, the Thunder bench is outscoring San Antonio’s reserves 257-127.

It’s been a very simple formula for the San Antonio Spurs in these Western Conference finals. When Victor Wembanyama has been the best player on the floor, they win. When he isn’t, they lose. He wasn’t the best player on the floor Tuesday night. That was not the only reason why the Spurs fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the West finals — there were many — but it was certainly among them. Wembanyama, who has had 41-point and 33-point outings in winning efforts during the series, never seemed to get fully rolling and the Spurs lost 127-114.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points, Alex Caruso led another strong bench effort with 22 and the Oklahoma City Thunder moved one win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals by beating the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Tuesday night. Jared McCain — getting the call with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both sidelined — scored 20 in his first playoff start for the Thunder, who now lead the Western Conference finals 3-2. Stephon Castle scored 24 points for San Antonio, which got 22 points from Julian Champagnie and 20 points from Victor Wembanyama — who was held to 4 of 15 shooting.

Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon didn’t completely back down from her assertion a small player can’t lead his team to the NBA championship now that Jalen Brunson has taken the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals. Hammon made her initial comments on ESPN in December 2023, saying the Knicks couldn’t win the championship if the 6-foot-2 Brunson was their best player. Those comments have generated some buzz after Brunson received the Larry Bird Trophy for MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

The song selection at the New York Knicks’ watch party couldn’t have been more obvious. Minutes after the Knicks finished their four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, the DJ at Radio City Music Hall played Prince’s “1999.” That was the last time the Knicks had reached the NBA Finals. And as fans sang along to, “So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999,” they could forget the more than a quarter of a century of mostly bad years since and enjoy the record-setting run the current team is on, which the Knicks will try to continue against Oklahoma City or San Antonio.

The New York Knicks have accomplished one of owner James Dolan’s mandates by reaching the NBA Finals. Up next: The opportunity to end a 53-year championship drought. Dolan said during a rare radio interview earlier this year that the Knicks winning the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1999 was something “we absolutely got to do.” New York did that on Monday night with a 130-93 rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a four-game sweep in the conference finals. The NBA Finals won’t begin until June 3 in either Oklahoma City or San Antonio. The Western Conference finals is tied at two games apiece, with Game 5 to be played in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The New York Knicks made a commitment to Jalen Brunson four years ago, signing him as a free agent and building their team around him. Brunson proved they made the right decision by leading them to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. The All-Star point guard averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists during New York’s sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, earning the Larry Bird Trophy as the series MVP. He had 15 points and five assists, when the Knicks crushed Cleveland 130-93 in Game 4.

The NBA Finals won’t start until June 3, so the schedule will do something that the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers could not in recent weeks. It’ll prevent the New York Knicks from winning. For a few days, anyway. The Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals, and they’re headed there on a roll like few others in league history. New York finished off a four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night, beating the Cavaliers 130-93 — and extending its winning streak to 11 games.