Be Kind Rewind: Knicks-Spurs Game 4
Vincent Carchietta/Imagn/Reuters
In the next decade, spelling bees will use the word: demoralizing. Kids will ask for an example: “The Knicks win against San Antonio was a demoralizing loss for San Antonio.”
Games like this stick with losing teams forever. New York’s loss last year against Indiana, New York’s 22-point win against Cleveland, and the best example is in football with New England’s Super Bowl comeback against Atlanta. San Antonio had the talent to make this series competitive, but losses like this kill the team from within.
Biggest Mistake: Spurs Thinking Their Threes Would Go In
During the first half, San Antonio had the best shooting game of the entire series. But there’s a reason why it was only a half. Hitting 14 threes and 60% from the field is not sustainable, especially the three-point shooting. San Antonio took too long to realize that, and it led to the Knicks getting back into the game. Their early-game shooting hurt them so much in the second half, due to the confidence those shots gave them, the hope they can make the same shots that got them up 29.
Adjustment to Watch: Run More Offense Through Harper
Due to Stephon Castle’s foul trouble, it led to more relying on Fox, and while that helped them win Game Three, it wasn’t this game. Throughout the third quarter, when the game was slowly collapsing for San Antonio, Dylan Harper felt like the only player that was trying to respond to New York.
The concern of all series in doing this is his youth. But over the playoffs, we’ve seen plenty of times that he and this team’s youth were not a factor. They should keep that in mind going into a do-or-die Game Five.
Biggest Takeaway:Spurs Can’t Win Three Games In The Row Against New York
Even with a choke on the level of this, San Antonio has proved they’re not a roll-over team. Over the first four games, every Knicks win was only by single digits and ended with the Spurs having a shot. That being said, there’s a reason they’re down 3-1. San Antonio, while having double-digit leads in every game, seems to not have the idea of what to do in the end. Every game, it feels like no matter what, New York knows what to do in the end; San Antonio doesn’t.
Swing Factor: Wemby’s Missed Free Throws
Is this Nick Anderson music I’m hearing? While not the level of collapse, an already momentum shift going for New York turned into just madness that led to the biggest comeback of the NBA Finals. This feels different than the Nick Anderson shots. Wemby was clearly just tired; after games with the most minutes Wemby has ever played, it was clear he was once again gassed. One of the biggest things we’ve learned from this series and the playoffs in general is Wemby, to compete for a championship, has to have the stamina to deal with the likely heavy minutes the farther you go.
Player of the Game: Jalen Brunson
OG made the shot, Brunson set the table. All of the comeback was built from Brunson. Stephon Castle’s foul trouble gave Brunson the needed space to have a shot to get New York back in the game. This series has been built on making Brunson uncomfortable, and even with the constant attention, he found enough to put New York over the top. Brunson has had the playoff legacy that looks to end with the Larry O’Brien in his hand.