Here is my latest conversation with J.R. Wilco of Pounding the Rock. On Monday night, the Knicks shooting went cold and the Spurs handed them their first loss in 13 games. Now, with New York clinging to a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals, they must defend home court and prevent a series tie before heading backing to San Antonio. Can they do it? Read on to find out what these dashing, highly-paid basketball experts think.
Here are links if you missed part 1, part 2, and part 3.
J.R.
So, the Spurs showed a
few things last night and we now know that they can:
1. Beat NY
2. Win in MSG
3. Stay composed in an intense clutch game in the Finals.
All of those are important, but I’d say the third is the biggest deal. First, it unlocks the other two. Second, because they’ve been shaky down the stretch in games going back to before Wemby joined the team.
For years, the knock on San Antonio was that despite their talent, and even though they could stay with teams through three quarters, they couldn’t win games. (I call that a talent gap, but some people call it not knowing how to win — potato potahto). Then the gripe became that they could build a lead, but couldn’t hold onto it. Then they could hold onto leads but couldn’t win close games. Then they could win close regular season games but not close playoff games. Close playoff games but not close Finals games…
You can see where this is going; it’s not like it’s a particularly rare development path. What’s unusual about it is how quickly they’ve moved through these stages to the point that now it’s reasonable to wonder whether they could be the first team to come back and win The Finals after trailing 0-2. I know I brought up pressure in our last conversation but it seems even more important after Game 3, because the series is for sure going back to San Antonio now, and none of the Knickerbockers are going to feel comfortable about the possibility of coming back home for Game 6 down 3-2. Which means they have to go up 3-1. Which brings us to mental toughness.
I’ll be honest, there were several times last night that I felt like the Knicks were about to put the game and the series away. After the flagrant review of Castle’s ugly looking foul on Brunson, I thought you guys had it. After the challenge that turned Victor’s three into zero points, I thought you guys had it. After Jaylen’s layup cut it to, (whatever it was) I thought you would take it home. But Wemby and the boys kept believing and kept making plays and now we are where we are. And my question is, at what point did you realize Game Three was slipping away?
R.R.
One summer, I took my kids out in a four-pedal paddle boat. We struggled to fit everyone in—my oldest was already over six feet tall, my stepson and I each weighed about 200 lbs., and my third son was scared for his life. Sam had good reason to be worried. We didn’t get more than 10 feet from the dock when the boat started to noticeably move in a vertical direction. Down. We all foot-pedaled furiously back toward the dock, but slowly, ever so slowly, the S.S. Guppy approached the waterline. Despite our frantic attempts to save ourselves, we watched the disaster unfold in slow motion as we all sank into the drink.
That was how it felt to watch the Knicks shoot 7-of-27 in the fourth quarter of Game Three.
Expecting the Knicks to win 15 straight playoff games was unrealistic. But they had not lost in 46 days, so a little irrationality was permissible.
We always assume that the bright lights and stars at MSG will rattle the opponent. Sometimes it swings the other way. In Game Three, the young Spurs were cold-blooded from the start, while the home team stumbled in the spotlight. Anyone watching on Monday with virgin eyes could not have identified which team was a squad of steady vets, trained under the cruel tutelage of Master Thibs, and which was a group of youngsters who jumped the development line.
One thing we might assume about confident vets is that they will dictate the pace of a game from tip-off. Not so with these Knickerbockers. All season long, they started games flat and played from behind after the first quarter. It was maddening. That changed through the first three rounds of the playoffs, but lately they have returned to their woeful ways. From my recap:
This was the first time they looked like the “old Knicks” since the first round. The lead guys started slow, the reserves provided a second-quarter lift while Towns and Brunson were split up, the play went stale again after halftime, and they hoped for Captain Clutch magic in the fourth. It was as if, after being away from the Garden for 19 days, they’d forgotten what a juggernaut they had become and, returning to their home court, reverted to their bad habits.
I say it often: first-quarter mistakes are just as impactful on the outcome as those in the fourth. New York started the game with two unforced errors and fell behind by seven points, putting themselves on the back foot for the rest of the game. With both teams so evenly matched and deserving of a championship, every brainfart is another nail in the coffin.
On that note, will the Knicks ever win a first quarter? They lost the first in Game One, 27-19, then 34-25 in Game Two, and 33-22 in Game Three. Playing from behind, they won the second quarter in all three contests. Great. But why must they put themselves at a disadvantage every single time? Every first quarter, they turn me into a sputtering, seething Lewis Black.
We must give them credit—the Spurs played their best game of the series. Castle was cooking (and boy, I dig that kid). Their distribution was excellent, their defense was hard-knuckled, and they were wise to keep Wemby away from KAT for long stretches. Both of these things can be true: San Antonio did an admirable job of keeping KAT out of the offense, and the Knicks did a lousy job of incorporating KAT into the offense. Brunson shot 15 more times than Towns. They could have at least split the difference!
Would you believe that Towns finished +8 and Bridges +11? I don’t, but it is true. It’s difficult to fathom because Bridges could not buy a bucket, and Shamet was worse. He crashed back to earth with 1-of-8 shooting and a -22 plus-minus. Shamet’s marksmanship has been a big part of New York’s postseason success. In his return to the Garden, ShamWow went ice cold. If he had made just one or two more threes, New York would be lining up the brooms.
If Mikal plays like that, Mike Brown knows better—he’s gotta sub in Shamet or Clarkson (OK, not Shamet that night). When Bridges is down, it seems like he doesn’t want to be on the court, which is weird for the guy with the longest active streak of consecutive games played. His foul on Wemby, when he had linked into his limbs like they were playing Twister, is the kind of stuff Bridges does when his confidence is shaken. If things are going well, Mikal is great. He has been in eight straight games now. After a few bad turns, though, he tends to ruminate, and it affects his performance. Brown has benched him in fourth quarters before. Maybe he should have last night.
Towns can get lost in his head, too. His anxiety reveals itself differently: he gets giddy and does a lot of Gorsh, can you just believe this?-type pantomiming. When that happens, it doesn’t affect his shooting per se, but it does result in forehead-slapping fouls. Which kills momentum and leads to foul trouble . . . which sends him to the bench . . . which reduces New York’s offensive options. . . . Sigh.
Josh Hart is different. He will randomly lose confidence in his shot and then play hot potato for a few games before snapping out of it. But that never affects his overall play, he’s the same maniac throughout. Brunson is mostly a killer, but if he’s getting smacked around without calls, his anger either leads to a turnover or a dagger three to win the game.
Occasionally, in late-game, high-stakes situations, OG Anunoby gets the yips at the charity stripe. It’s one of the few flaws in my favorite Knick; otherwise, he is one of the most unflappable hoopers to ever play. While his missed free throw late in the fourth was costly, his corner three redeemed him and nearly saved the game. When it came time for that last shot, we would rather that OG had taken it (“NOT BRIDGES, NO!!” I yelled), but even if it went in, a Manhattan Miracle was still needed. They were losing by four with five seconds left. (Note that if OG had made that free throw, a longball would have tied it. . . .)
Nevertheless, despite so much going wrong, I also thought the Knicks were right about to bust open the game many times. There is a lot of complaining in NY about the officiating (some warranted), but ultimately, the Knicks lost because they missed too many shots. We doubt they will misfire so badly in Game Four. From your side of the aisle, did this feel like a Spurs victory or a Knicks collapse? And what do you expect on Wednesday night?
J.R.
It certainly didn’t feel like New York collapsed. Every team goes through dry spells, and after winning a few dozen games in a row (I honestly lost count), eventually you might have a poorly timed dry spell and drop a contest once a millennia or so. I’m just saying it’s a thing that happens, though it’s understandable if you’ve forgotten what it’s like in the interminable time since Knicks fans have had to suffer the indignity of taking an L.
As far as starting slow goes, man, the Spurs have been there. It was such a thing that it led to the team getting upset after a loss and shaving their heads. (I sure hope I’m remembering the timing of this right. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.) To be precise, Keldon Johnson, and Wembanyama shaved their heads. There were a few other guys who trimmed their hair and some others who were threatened. Carter Bryant was told that if he blew three more dunks before the season ended that he’d have to shave his head. Instead of the ambitious dunks that he’d been missing repeatedly during games, he switched to easy two-handed shove-it-in-the-basket for a few weeks out of fear KJ wasn’t joking.
Anyway, the first game after going bald, Wemby and the team started sprinting out of the gate and they have won first quarters, or at least the beginning of the game, like clockwork ever since. It sure is fascinating when a team flips a switch like that. Makes you wonder about how it’s done, when sometimes it takes players years to get out of some ruts.
You said you love Castle, so I’ll admit that I’m crazy about OG. He’s the guy I’ve wanted on the Spurs ever since his name was tossed around while SA came to terms with Toronto on the Leonard/DeRozan deal. Can’t tell you how jealous I was when NY nabbed him. That said, my heart belongs to Josh. Hart. I don’t know what it is about guys like him and Alex Caruso, but I can’t ignore it. Hart seems to always be in the right place at the right time making the right play precisely the way necessary to end an opponent’s run or preserve his team’s flow. Plus, he plays with so much passion and savvy and he reads exactly where weird rebounds are headed so frequently it’s infuriating.
Anyway, thanks for the player personality breakdown, it’s helpful to understand the opposition better when I haven’t been watching them much this season and only know them by the way they play against San Antonio. I’d have never thought that about Bridges, who’s always seemed imperturbable to me.
As for what I expect in Game 4, I’ll begin with what I don’t expect: another impeccable shooting performance from Hart and Clarkson. I also don’t expect KAT to Chet the bed again. He’s too good a player to disappear two games in a row, right? I also don’t expect Fox to go 4-14 again, no matter how bad his ankle is. I could see the Spurs continuing to get Wemby closer to the rim. So far, across the three games, his average shot distance has gone from 17 feet to 13 to 10.6. I don’t know that it’ll get lower than that, but I like SA’s chances as long as it doesn’t start going up again. I expect more great defense from both teams, and I expect a tied series heading back to Texas.
What do you expect from G4, and who do you think will have the biggest bounce back game?
R.R.
Chet the bed. That’s so deliciously mean, I must add that to my repertoire.
I shaved my head once, either just before or at age 21. I had applied midnight black hair dye and, while waiting for it to set, I drank too much Goldschläger (any Goldschläger is too much Goldschläger). After a while, I checked and saw that my hair had turned Smurf blue. Hammered, impatient, and disappointed, I decided to shave it all off. The next day I shambled into work, hungover and looking like I was wearing a blue skullcap. The dye had stained my scalp. My coworkers assumed I’d been in some accident. How come nobody told me that shaving one’s head is the secret to improving basketball skills? If I’d known, I would’ve gone straight to the Y to school some fools . . . with my bald, blue head . . . covered in nicks from a dull razor. . . .
The Knicks don’t do anything quite as interesting when the team needs a jolt. Brunson, the team captain, convenes a meeting. They air it out. They play better afterward. Since the entire Knicks organization keeps secrets tighter than the Genovese crime family, details of team meetings are never leaked. If any Knick ever shows up on the injury report with broken thumbs, rest assured he’s a rat.
You and I seem to appreciate similar qualities in hoopers. I have equal amounts of affection for Anunoby and Hart. On any given day, I’ll call either one my current favorite Knick. When Josh arrived in New York in a swap with Portland for Cam Reddish, I was unfamiliar with his game but a friend from Seattle said, “You are going to love him.” ‘Tis true. These days, I consider him a modern-day Dennis Rodman with better offensive skills. Although I’ve mentioned this in posts, no one has congratulated me for this genius comp. You watched the Worm play, I assume. Is the comparison apt?
That’s an interesting stat about Wemby inching closer and closer to the rim. I expect Mike Brown to scheme a response to that. As for who will have a bounce-back game, can I answer “the whole team”? Shamet will sink three to four threes, Bridges will get his shot count up, and KAT will log a 20-10 double-double. With their cold shooting spell snapped, I predict the Knicks to take a 3-1 lead back to Texas.
By the way, congratulations to us for not discussing the officiating. That grenade would blow up the comments section. Oh, but look at the time! I’ve overstayed my welcome already. Good luck to you tonight (but Knicks Forever, of course).
J.R.
Congratulations, Russell, you have activated: Fraternizing with the Enemy’s, lightning round! Ready, begin!
I see your nicked-and-dyed scalp story and raise you a Wemby in the park sketching a statue on the day of the game story.
If broken thumbs means a rat, what does a broken hand mean?
The “Rodman, but with offense” comp is pretty apt, but I gotta go back to Alex Caruso. Both guys embody modern basketball through the lens of Wayne Gretzky, the man who skated to where the puck was going to be. Josh teleports across the court to materialize with the ball in his hands.
No, you may not answer, “the whole team” but thanks for playing! See you on the road back to San Antonio!
