How the East Won

How The East Won…

The Cast

By The Fillerbuster

June 16, 2026

Well, the one thing about trying to predict things and posting it, is that your prediction is out there.  Publicly.  You can’t bring it back.  Gutsy to do, and hard to always be accurate.  In fact, my last blog was very wrong, and it didn’t matter how the West was won.  The East beat the West, badly, on both sides.  Well, instead of writing about something new, let’s take it head on.  But, I digress.

Why DID both Eastern teams win?  What did I notice while watching both the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals?  Let’s break it down.

NHL:

• Carolina proved to be a very well-oiled machine.  Watching them play wasn’t the most beautiful thing.  It wasn’t the ugliest thing.  What you saw when you watched them was a perfect orchestration of brawn and synergy.  You saw what a true team was supposed to look like.  And, you had a thirty-something guy making a ridiculous last push in leading this team to glory.
• The Avs were the best team ALL year.  By a lot.  Probably similar to the Spurs, the Golden Knights probably thought they had already beaten the best team.  They probably underrated the victorious Eastern team.  They probably already felt subconsciously that they had already won the Cup.  They probably had a human nature hangover after beating the mighty Avs.
• I watched every game.  I didn’t personally see much of an adjustment game to game from Vegas.  Props to them for believing in their specific formula.  But, sometimes you need to pivot though.
• A hot pitcher in baseball only pitches once every 3-4 starts.  A hot QB or NBA player still has others to lean on.  In the NHL, a hot goalie plays every game, sees every shot, and can totally alter a series.  Or, an entire playoff run.  In this case, it was neither really.  Brandon Bussi came in DURING the Finals and became a wrecking machine.  It was like watching The Matrix, where everything simply slowed down for him.  What’s more, it was an unexpected pivot, so there wasn’t as much tape on him.  What a story, and what a hero.
• The defense of the Golden Knights looked bad.  When your defense is bad, and you can go through 57 minutes real-time of a game without getting one single SHOT on offense, problems exist.
• Even if you are playing badly skill-wise, you can still play smartly.  The Golden Knights had penalty after penalty.  Pair up special teams with a bad defense, on a more constant basis than you should allow, and you can’t really ever get your footing.
• I already mentioned Jordan Staal, but his elevated play in the series was almost…magical.  Staal stole the show on one side, and Jalen commanded the spotlight on the other side.
• Finally, the Hurricanes looked MUCH more rested.  Yes, the Golden Knights swept the Avs, but they still played more before that, and that builds up.  The Hurricanes had a plan, had the players, erased their competition pretty much, and looked pretty energetic and fresh through all of the final games to the Cup.

NBA:

• Jalen Brunson, in one playoff run, pretty much wrapped up the Hall of Fame, best Knicks player ever, and ultimate “hand” (Seinfeld joke) for the rest of his life.  He never lost his head, he always looked in control, and proved that little guys CAN win it all pretty much on their own (although Zeke and Steph would argue they pretty much did that already).
• The 29 point comeback took the life out of the Spurs kids.  I thought they might have a chance BECAUSE they were so immature, but it ended up being the dagger.  When they were up in the last game by double digits, you could literally see everyone on the floor having bad memories ALL at the same time.
• During that 29 point comeback, the exclamation points came from a player who didn’t win MVP, but will always own the best moments of the series.  The block on Fox, and the put back coming from out of bounds were pretty epic by OG.
• The league is WAY warned on what might happen in the coming years, but youth showed its ugly head way too many times in the series.  From the pass off of Castle’s back, to the shove on Brunson, to the multiple comebacks not turned back, experience won this thing.
• Youth wasn’t just on the court.  It was on the sidelines.  Mitch Johnson showed some promise, but he also showed bad subbing, lack of adjustments, weird timeouts (or no timeouts), and subpar game management.  He is a young coach who showed he was young.  Maybe Pop should have directed some of his speeches to the coach as well as the players.
• The Spurs decided to roll the dice this year with no real veteran presence in the locker room.  There was no one to level the room or huddle, and tell others to simply settle down and relax.  Fox was probably the idea on that thought, but he ended up making more boneheaded plays than all of his younger teammates.
• I felt like every game was the same thing.  Strong start by the Spurs, big lead, wilt at the end.  It was like the Groundhog Day version of the NBA Finals.
• Instead of upping Wemby’s minutes during the season, they kept playing him pretty minimally.  Sure, you can “save” him for the playoffs for energy, and sure he had his injury, BUT his body ALSO won’t be ready to handle playing the whole time.  And what was he in when they were up 29 points anyway?  Trust your fellow NBA players, who might not be as good, but will be pretty motivated and focused to block a comeback.  In the end, they are still skilled NBA players, no matter where they sit on the bench.
• The Knicks went through the East.  The difference between James Harden and the Cavs and Shai and the Thunder is a little lopsided.  They, like the Hurricanes, just looked fresher.
• Wemby needs to tame his temper.  He has all of the skills in the world, but needs to manage his competitiveness.  Be better on that front, and shake their hands at the end, dammit.

That’s all.  I just wanted to put a bow on my faulty predictions.  Expect mid-World Cup piece coming soon.  Probably after the Group round.  Go USA!