They had to lose some time, right?
The dream of 15 straight wins to a title always felt a bit unlikely against a very talented and hungry Spurs team, but you believed it a little after Game 2. Unfortunately, the Garden lights weren’t too bright for San Antonio, unlike some other teams.
Let’s get to the grades.
Jalen Brunson: C
32 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 11-25 FG, 3-5 3pt, 7-8 FT, 5 turnovers, -9
I do think Jalen Brunson played better in this game than he did in the last two, if we don’t add extra points for his heroics
in the clutch.
He had some frustrating stretches and often disrupted the flow of the offense with too much dribbling, but he was also knocking down more shots than he was before. At times, it looked like he was more comfortable. Then again, they were still being extra physical with him.
He was able to get to the line more and once again hit clutch shots late to keep a glimmer of hope alive. If De’Aaron Fox misses that jumper with 15 seconds left, his 3-pointer right before suddenly becomes the biggest shot of the night.
There are stylistic changes that he and the team probably need to make, but I can’t criticize his performance too much on a day when a lot of guys didn’t show up.
Mikal Bridges: D
2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1-5 FG, 0-3 3pt, 4 fouls, +11
It’s going to be one of these series, huh?
After a brilliant Game 2, Bridges picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and essentially pulled a Game 2 Hart, never getting in the flow after his rotations were disrupted early.
The defense wasn’t as game-breaking as you’d like, as Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle impressed. He missed some timely shots. He wasn’t looking for his shot nearly enough.
Let’s hope we can chalk this up to the early whistle disrupting his flow.
Josh Hart: B+
16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 6-10 FG, 4-7 3pt, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, -7
This was a beautiful game for Hart all around. The three-point shooting finally came around, and if not for his shooting in the first quarter, this one would’ve been a laugher.
He was still too apprehensive in the second half when the ghost coverage continued to be applied. He needed to be more aggressive in looking for his shot like he was in Game 2 against Cleveland. There’s also that technical foul he got for getting pissed at Luke Kornet for an inadvertent shove. Look, considering what happened with Brunson, I’ll allow it.
OG Anunoby: A
28 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals, 9-13 FG, 3-7 3pt, 7-9 FT, –3
This was a masterpiece. He made big shots, he drove with confidence to the rim, undeterred by Victor Wembanyama. He played physical defense. This was the OG we saw before that hamstring injury took some of his burst for a little while.
There were some mistakes, but those were more team-wide. Missed rotations allowed Wemby to get a groove early. He, along with guys like Hart and Jordan Clarkson, had mental lapses result in turnovers. He doesn’t get dinged for this because it’s a team issue, but it’s something to note on a night where he was the best Knick on the court.
Karl-Anthony Towns: C-
11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 4-10 FG, 0-2 3pt, 3-3 FT, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, +6
This is a hard performance to judge.
Towns wasn’t nearly as aggressive as usual on offense. He wasn’t being the playmaker we’ve seen from him. It was just the second time since late March that he failed to record two assists. He passed up some opportunities for 3s and took some bad ones that he missed in big spots. His defense was worse on Wemby.
But he still did bail out the defense on some plays with some tremendous individual effort, compiling five stocks for the first time since January. The team also didn’t seem to have an easy adjustment to Wemby no longer guarding KAT at the top of the key, something that disrupts driving lanes.
Get in the film room and come out with fire on Wednesday.
Deuce McBride: D-
0 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 1 turnover, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3pt, +2
He played nine minutes. He missed both shots. He had a bad turnover.
Deuce, oh Deuce. Where art thou?
José Alvarado: B
4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 2-5 FG, 0-2 3pt, +5
Alvarado was incredible in his second quarter minutes. He was fearless going at Wembanyama in the middle and spearheaded a comeback after a rough first quarter with intensity on both ends.
And that was about it. He didn’t do much after Brunson got in foul trouble in the third and was part of a putrid start to the fourth quarter. Still, he did well if you grade on a curve with the rest of the bench.
Landry Shamet: D
3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1-8 FG, 1-7 3pt, -20
Ouch.
The Knicks won by 16 in the 25 minutes he sat. That’s not good.
His shot just wasn’t falling today. He seemed apprehensive early, but was missing some great looks later on. I really hope we don’t see what we saw against Atlanta with his minutes being slashed after a rough game, but I do think the team should’ve gone to Bridges earlier in the fourth when it was clear Shamet didn’t have it.
They aren’t going to win many games when Deuce and Shamet are 1-for-9 combined from the perimeter.
Mitchell Robinson: D
5 points, 4 rebounds, 2-3 FG, 1-2 FT, 4 OREB, -13
The only great thing he did was grab four offensive rebounds. His minutes were limited due to the Spurs getting in the bonus early in the first and third quarters, and the Knicks opted to play small ball more than we’ve seen, which was probably a bad idea.
I guess he wasn’t too motivated by POTUS being in attendance, like we all joked.
Jordan Clarkson: A-
10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4-7 FG, 2-2 3pt, 2 turnovers, +8
Always stay ready. Clarkson has been purely situational for this team, but took advantage when he got an opportunity to play due to foul trouble and struggles from above the depth chart.
He had some fantastic moments. A desperation triple. A putback on his own miss. Some great hustle.
He also had some blunders. Two really bad turnovers didn’t help, but I can’t be too critical of someone who won his minutes and made the most of them.
BONUS
The Referees: D
It was never going to be as bad as it was in Game 2, but man.
At one point, the Spurs had 22 free throws in the second half, and the Knicks had four. The Spurs were in the bonus in about three minutes on two separate occasions. The Knicks had to burn a challenge on an extremely obvious shove by Keldon Johnson that gave Wemby a 4-point play. In a league where you don’t get infinite challenges, that’s unacceptable.
Wemby didn’t get as many soft calls as usual, but we saw a lot of ticky tack fouls which were inconsistent on both ends.
Unlike the last game, the refs didn’t clearly try to influence the outcome, but they didn’t help. Knicks could’ve won regardless.
