The Spurs kept the game close for three quarters, but were outworked by a tough Knicks team in the fourth, as they got to every rebound and every loose ball. The Knicks overcame a 92-81 point lead from the Spurs late in the third quarter and outscored them the rest of the way 43-21 to win 124-113. The Knicks had terrific games from everyone on their roster, and proved that they’re not just Jalen Brunson, who had 25, second to OG Anunoby, who scored from everywhere on the court. Mitchell Robinson
had an outsized impact much bigger than his 15 points, which 15 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive end. Brunson was named MVP of the tournament, but Mitchell Robinson would have been my pick.
The Spurs had an off night, and Wemby had his moments, but doesn’t seem fully back from his injury, although he had a nice third quarter. Harrison Barnes had a few bad games in Vegas, but I think all of the credit should go the Knicks, who played their hearts out and made the plays to win in the fourth. This is a great learning experience for the Spurs, who saw how a team can really compete at a championship level, and that they still have a ways to go to get there. Overall it was a successful tournament for the Spurs, and they will learn from it. Maybe next year they can take the cup, but for this year, they’re focused on getting a good playoff seeding and seeing how far they can advance in the postseason.
Observations
- Kornet texted Blake Griffin that he just didn’t have it for the Thunder game, and he had to rely on his backup to pick up the slack. That’s a real team player. Mitch started Luke again tonight, and he had a much bigger impact on the game, scoring 10 points in the first half, while his scrub backup only scored two points.
- Steve Van Gundy was still behind the mic for the finals game, after making a hash of the semis. I would like to file a complaint about my Prime service, Mr. Bezos.
- The Spurs had a tiny glitch to start the game as the Knicks went on a 7-2 run to start the game, but they quickly recovered with a 9-0 run of their own. The Spurs led 30-38 after an evenly played first quarter.
- OG Anunoby is sometimes the forgotten man with Brunson, Bridges, and KAT getting all of the attention, but he’s just a really good player, and his play kept the Knicks competitive in the first half when no one else was doing much, scoring 20 points to lead the team.
- I don’t know how Brunson does it, but he gets a foul call every time someone has any minor contact on him, and other players bounce all over the court and never hear a whistle. It’s like a magic spell.
- The Spurs were the more physical team in the second quarter as they took over the game and led by as much as seven, but the Knicks fought back and the Spurs led 61-59 at the half.
- Wembanyama looked a little rushed and tentative in the first half, which is understandable for a player that hasn’t played in a month, except for a short stint a few days ago. He definitely changes the game whenever he’s on the court, but he wasn’t in full effect as he seemed to defer too much early on.
- De’Aaron Fox started out the second half on a heater with a pair of triples as the Spurs rushed out to a quick 8 point lead. I’m so used to the Spurs coming out flat after halftime, it’s weird seeing a quick start.
- Barnes couldn’t hit a barn in Las Vegas shooting three points shots, but he had some nice plays going into the paint. Maybe the background in the T-Mobile arena was weird or something, but it’s odd when one fo the best shooters in the league suddenly misses everything.
- The Spurs got their first double digit lead in the third as Harper had a nice stint off the bench. Wembanyama has a spectacular third with 14 points, while Brunson did his thing and brought the Knicks back within 5 at the end of the third, trailing 89-94.
- New York started off the fourth quarter on an 8-0 lead, taking a lead as the Spurs could not grab a defensive rebound and let the Knicks keep pounding the ball at the basket until it went in. Mitch Johnson had to take an early timeout to regroup his team. Mitchell Robinson isn’t a great offensive player, but he sure can grab rebounds. He had 15 total rebounds, 10 of them offensive and he
- The Knicks outworked
Cup madness is over, and it’s time to get back to work on Thursday to face the Wizards in San Antonio, and then leave immediately to face the Hawks in Atlanta the following night. The Wizards game was moved back a day for the Spurs to have a rest day after the finals, but it’s not exactly a favor, since it converted the second game to a short turnaround home/road back-to-back which is, as we know, the worst possible kind of back to back.
