The San Antonio Spurs looked shocked and confused as they left the court after losing to the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Friday night. After San Antonio had dispatched the defending NBA Champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 4-3 in the Western Conference Finals, the Wemby juggernaut looked unstoppable. Except someone forgot to tell head coach Mike Brown and his battilin’ Knicks.
Armed with a rock-solid defense and diverse scoring options, New York forced the tempo in the first two games of the series, resulting in two tough road wins. Now with the Knicks, on a 13-game playoff winning streak (including 8 consecutive road wins), it’s fair to ask: Is there any hope for San Antonio?
Knicks Are Playing Some Down and Dirty Defense
The Knicks have raised their defensive intensity to a new level. All one has to do is look at the anguish on Victor Wembanyama’s face to understand the fits that the New York defenders are giving him. At every turn, he is bumped, held, or cut off from making his usual cuts to the basket. Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT) has been the driving force of this strategy, but Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, and others have contributed to closing the lane on the San Antonio offense.
The Knicks have also slowed the potent Spurs’ transition offense. San Antonio is running as much as they did in their previous playoff series’, but they are averaging under a point per transition possession in this series, compared to 1.14 points in the rest of the playoffs. Credit Mikai Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Hart for hustling back and contesting every possession. That, coupled with the defensive strategy on Wembanyama and Stephon Castle’s poor shooting, has been the recipe for a disappointing San Antonio attack.
New York Has Multiple Offensive Threats
If you told an expert basketball observer that, after two finals games, Jalen Brunson would be shooting 19-for-56 from the field, that person would have automatically said the Knicks were down 2-0. But the opposite is true due to the multiple threat New York offense. The key here, again, is KAT playing his point-center position, dishing to his teammates, and consistently hitting his outside shot. But he is joined by a host of other Knicks who are tearing apart the Spurs defense.
Bridges was extremely hot during portions of Game 2, where he finished with 20 points. Anunoby and Landry Shamet are hitting 3s from downtown, preventing the San Antonio defenders from closing down the lane on KAT and Brunson. And Brunson, for his part, despite his struggles from the floor, has made several clutch baskets down the stretch. And, KAT has scored 39 points on 15-for-27 shooting, and he and Brunson are second on the team in assists (8), trailing only Hart’s 10.
How Do the Spurs Make it a Series
For the Spurs to make it a competitive series, Wembanyama has to continue to play as he did in the second half of Game 2. He has to accept that he will be bumped and pushed around, and he will have to fight for every point he gets. Dylan Harper has to stay hot from the outside, but Castle will must find his scoring touch for San Antonio to have a chance. And they have to hope that Brunson doesn’t regain the playoff touch that he exhibited in previous series’.
However, it may not matter if the potential MVP KAT continues his dominant play. He has shed his reputation as being soft in the playoffs and is in the middle of a memorable run. It might be enough to boost the Knicks, who haven’t won an NBA crown since 1973, into the promised land.
