13 wins in a row. Eight straight away from home. Two down. Two to go.
The New York Knicks subjected themselves and their fans to the full range of human emotion, ultimately stopping San Antonio at the buzzer to win Game 2 of the Finals 105-104 and take a 2-0 lead in the series. There was a similar feel to last year’s series in Boston, with the Knicks and their fans ahead of a curve the rest of the basketball world has taken it easy as Sunday morning to ignore: the ‘bockers are the better team.
The
first quarter played out the same way Wednesday’s did. You figured the Spurs would come out flying, and they did. San Antonio alternated pressing the Knicks for 94 feet or immediately upon crossing midcourt, causing two out-of-bounds violations, a Josh Hart turnover that led to a flagrant foul and entirely too much tightrope walking and dribbling for this old soul’s gastrointestinal liking.
De’Aaron Fox scored more points in the opening frame than in Game 1 and the Spurs had nine assists, after only 16 last game. They opened hot from deep, too, all adding up to their highest-scoring quarter of the series (35 points). The home team was living up to the story they’ve sold themselves: they simply weren’t themselves Wednesday; they’re the better team; normal reality will resume shortly.
The Knicks did their part to fuel the Spurs’ belief. Josh Hart looked like he’d accidentally seen a video where a girl climbs out of well and tells him if he takes any shots he’s dead in seven days. San Antonio went Hack-a-Mitch early and Robinson obliged, missing three of his first four free throws. The lead, while not bulging, was fattening.
Then Robinson’s fifth free-throw attempt clanged off the back of the rim, went way up in the air and came down through the net. He made the next one, too. The Knicks were down nine after one, but Mike Brown was right on when he said: “We gotta weather the storm.” In the second quarter, the storm got weathered.
Offense gets all the attention these days, but just like when the Yankees are great they always have great centerfielders and great Mets teams always have sick starting pitching, whenever the Knicks are leading the pack they’re leading it with defense. The Spurs’ intensity on that end was truly a sight to behold, reminiscent of the Miami series in the 1990s, where simply getting a shot off with any room feels like a win. That’s what happens when you’re up against an 89-inch center and four dudes all closing out a the speed of sound.
Jalen Brunson was the offense in the opening minutes; with him resting to open the second, Karl-Anthony Towns stepped up and laid it down, on both ends. Here was KAT blocking a shot, draining a deep 3, driving past Victor Wembanyama and dunking, taking advantage of a mismatch down low with Stephon Castle, grabbing defensive rebounds. Even passing out of a quadruple team, when need be.
The opening half had a distinct Foreman/Ali feel, with the Spurs throwing more punches and the Knicks taking them in stride, wily, letting the young buck tire himself out, countering just enough to keep it close enough. San Antonio started missing looks they were making in the first, especially from deep. Mikal Bridges started making shots from deep. Towns was brilliant in every way, closing the half finding Bridges at the cup for two, then draining a corner 3 to put New York up four.
In the third the Knick defense remained forceful, which was necessary because of a ridiculous fourth foul call on KAT halfway through the quarter. The Spurs ran off 10 straight to pull within four, and then with three minutes left in the third, both teams decided to go starless. For the first time I remember in the series, Brunson, Towns and Wembanyama were all on the bench. Who would step up? For whom?
Cometh the hour, cometh the man: Bridges followed a tough Deuce McBride pull-up make with a couple of his own, then found Mitch for an alley-oop on New York’s last possession. The Knicks won the starless minutes 6-1 and entered the fourth up nine. 12 minutes to yet another new level for this team. 12 minutes before yet again making the improbable seem inevitable.
Brown stuck with Hart and four reserves to open the final frame; if anything symbolized the difference between this year’s Knicks and the past few seasons, it might have been that visual. When Towns and Brunson returned early in the fourth, the Knicks led by nine — five points more than when their two stars sat.
Come endgame, you knew the home team would start getting calls, and they did. Whistles were blown and swallowed in mysterious ways. Want a great symbolic moment? The Knicks’ first bucket of the last quarter came after the two longest-tenured Knicks, McBride and Mitch, keeping the possession alive until Landry Shamet hit from deep — which he did repeatedly.
The Knicks continued to bring the heat, the noise, the pain and whatever else the situation called for. Their blocked shots total doesn’t convey how consistent they were denying shots at the rim, whether contesting or mindfully fouling. They kept keeping possessions alive, kept making 3s, went up 14. It couldn’t be this easy. It wasn’t.
The Spurs needed all of about two and a half minutes to run off 14 straight points, tying the game at 97. It looked likely to get worse after an Anunoby corner 3 attempt appeared to end in a turnover, but the Knicks appealed and won, resulting in three free throws instead. They were New York’s first free throws of the half, which is like throwing a 3-day nude music festival in tall, wild grass and not one single person being bit by a tic.
Bridges found Brunson on a beautiful in-bounds to give the Knicks the lead, but Dylan Harper came flying the other way and forced a Towns goaltend. With under a minute to go, Wembanyama finished an and-one to put the Spurs back up. Brunson hit a Dirk-fadeaway to tie it. Wembanyama then missed, with Anunoby grabbing the rebound. Someone was gonna blink. Someone did.
After Brunson missed a pull-up with 16 seconds left, Wembanyama grabbed the rebound and began to push the ball, then passed it ahead to Castle. Only problem was Castle wasn’t aware of that, so the ball bounced off his back and into the hands of Brunson, who was run into by Wembanyama and knocked out of bounds. One of two free throws later, the Knicks were up one.
It call came down to defense. It always does. The Spurs ran a Fox/Wembanyama pick-and-roll, Bridges and Mitch defended it, Fox dished back to Wembanyama, who pulled up from 20 feet. Back iron. Back-to-back. Back to NYC two wins from a ‘chip.
Russell Richardson has the recap coming up later. Sleep well tonight, you angels.
