It was nearly a home game. According to TickPick data, New York and New Jersey residents bought 45% of the tickets to Game Five in San Antonio. You could hear it in the opening minutes, when the ‘Bocker backers were just as loud as the Spurs fanatics.
Unfortunately, the visiting team didn’t give a lot to cheer about early on. Once again, the Knicks fell behind by double digits. They scored the fewest first-quarter points of the season, down 23-13, and trailed at halftime, 42-37. But the Knicks can
never be counted out when Captain Jalen Brunson wears an orange and blue cape. Scoring 45 (rest of team: 49), Jalen led the troops on another rally, this time from 16 down. With big shots in the fourth and big misses by the Spurs, the Knicks pulled ahead with three minutes to go and held for a 94-90 win.
Hang the banner! They’re the champs!
Each team stumbled through the first two minutes. The Knicks missed four shots, while the Spurs missed one and turned the ball over before Wemby dunked around 9:30 and Jalen Brunson answered with a three-ball. From there the Knicks continued to brick (missing 13 of their initial 15 shots) and fell behind by six before OG Anunoby hit a catch-up corner three. At the midway point, coach Mike Brown, hoping to get some offensive mojo working, subbed Landry Shamet for OG. Harper worked Shamet for a layup, and then Landry was way off from deep as the shot clock expired. That ShamWow magic was all tapped out, apparently.
Going up by double digits, the home team scored 12 of their first-quarter points in the paint, while New York had scored none. The home-viewing audience saw a lot of contact on the court, but the refs—much closer to the action—saw very few fouls to call. Perhaps that had something to do with Scott “The Extender” Foster heading the officiating crew.
Brown sent Anunoby back in and swapped Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns for Alvarado and Mitchell Robinson.
Through the first four games, New York had not managed more than 25 points in a quarter, while San Antonio had averaged 34. Tonight was the ugliest first frame yet. The visitors had just 10 points before Brunson swished from deep with a minute left. When the period concluded, both teams had recorded their lowest first-quarter point totals of the series. Spurs up, 23-13.
This was the entirety of the Knicks offense. All of it:
- Brunson: 25-foot three-pointer
- Anunoby: Corner three
- Anunoby: Two free throws
- Brunson: 11-foot step-back jumper
- Brunson: 27-foot three-pointer
To start the second quarter, Wemby blocked Alvarado on the perimeter and then stuffed Shamet in the lane, while Julian Champagnie made the deficit 13 at the other end. The Spurs applied full-court pressure, and the Knicks had trouble getting the ball across midcourt, let alone putting it in the hoop. Rookie Dylan Harper made free throws for a 15-point advantage. When Wemby hit from the corner, it was 16. Mike Brown needed a timeout to regroup the troops.
Brunson, Bridges, and Hart combined for a 17-7 run that brought the differential back to six with about 2:30 left in the half. The Spurs’ defense, which rocketed out of the gate like angry pit bulls, began to lose a step. When Anunoby nicked a Stephon Castle pass, Hart took it all the way for a layup—and Fox, trailing, shoved him from behind with two hands for a flagrant-1. It was a reckless play by Fox. The Knicks fans present erupted at the announcement, then again when Hart made the free throw, and then again when Bridges floated a bucket over Wembanyama.
Thanks to a buzzer-beater in traffic by Devin Vassell, the Spurs took a 42-37 lead into halftime. Stunned by those numbers? Us, too! That was the fewest points scored by the Knicks in a first half this season.
The glaring number is points in the paint: 18-6 Spurs. That’s a big gap, especially when neither team could shoot straight. The hosts had made two more field goals than the guests. The Knicks actually shot better from three (37% to 29%), thanks to Brunson making 3-of-4. On the glass, the Spurs held a 26-23 edge overall and had nine second-chance points. The Spurs had 14 bench points, the Knicks none. Turnovers, assists, and points off turnovers were essentially even. New York had taken 44 shots and scored only six paint points. Brunson led all scorers with 16; Harper led the Spurs with 11.
To start the third quarter, Towns was immediately dinged for a soft elbow on Wemby (who preceded that with a push-off). The Extender was all over it, whistling Karl’s fourth penalty of the night and sending him to the bench.
A few moments later, Wemby scored on a dunk, and Robinson pushed him gently from behind, earning the same flagrant-1 that Fox did earlier. Those two fouls by their centers were momentum killers for the Knicks. Wemby hit the freebie, Champagnie made a three, and Wemby made a bucket to make the hole 12 again. A Bridges three-pointer and a Brunson jumper cut it back to seven, and the see-saw continued.
Ariel Hukporti checked in around the eight-minute mark, but not for long—Wemby took the bench, and Brown opted for Shame, hoping for that elusive offensive surge.
At around the 5:30 mark, Wembanyama clearly violated Brunson’s landing area on a three-point attempt. Jalen landed on his foot, turning his ankle. The refs swallowed their whistle on the obvious flagrant. Why? Because it would have been his fourth flagrant-foul point and suspended him from Game Six.
Here’s a convenient place to drop this fun fact: Financial analysts tracking deep postseason runs note that a single Finals game hosted in a premier arena can clear $20 million or more in total building revenue. (h/t Inc. Magazine.) The league takes a 25% cut of all gate receipts from playoff games. Plus, economic impact studies frequently show that hosting a single Finals game can inject tens of millions of dollars into a city’s local ecosystem.
On the next sequence, Bridges was poked IN THE EYE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF FOSTER, but yet again, no whistle. The Spurs fans chanted DE-FENSE, but it should have been FOS-TER! With the Knicks playing 5-on-6, the Spurs went ahead by 15.
Send your thoughts to asilver@nba.com. Maybe, if the NBA believes in ethical basketball, they will assess a belated flagrant on Wemby after reviewing the game.
Throughout the Finals, Shamet, McBride, and Clarkson have been mostly negatives. That continued tonight. One bench player who gave New York positive minutes was Hukporti, who blocked Kornet at the rim and fought for a timely offensive board.
Hart hit a triple, Brunson hit three freebies, and Robinson tipped in a Brunson miss to make the score 72-65 after three.
The teams traded buckets to start the final frame. Shamet hit a three—finally—and Vassell answered. Early in the quarter, Hart blocked a driving Vassell and called for a foul. Brown challenged it. Even though Hart contacted the ball first, the challenge was unsuccessful. Send your thoughts to asilver@nba.com.
Shamet hurt his ankle coming down for a layup and exited the game. Hate to see him injured, but it might have been the only to stop Brown from playing him!
Wemby was actually called for a loose ball foul, then Brunson took him to the woodshed for a difficult finger roll. The score was 83-79 at the midway mark. Towns picked up his fifth foul around then, shoving Wemby from behind into Hart. That meant Robinson was back in the game when New York needed an offensive push to keep the game close or even go ahead.
Brunson made two free throws and a freight train layup to cap a 10-0 run. All knotted up at 83 with four and change remaining. Vassell made a jumper for a lead, but then fouled Brunson on a three (and violated his landing space, but shhh). Captain Clutch made all three freebies and took the lead. Fox missed on a pull-up, Robinson grabbed the board, and Brown called a timeout to beat Mitch Johnson to a Hack-A-Mitch.
Brunson was dinged for an offensive foul, and the Spurs missed a couple of point blank at the iron. They’d missed nine of their last ten shots, and then Vassell goaltended on an Anunoby dunk. 88-85 with two minutes left.
At the other end, Towns fouled out when called for an offensive foul when Wemby charged into him. Wemby missed one of two, and the Knicks fans were delirious. Harper and Cap traded buckets, and with a minute left, the Knicks lead was two. Hart missed from yard, Harper got the ball and ran the length of the floor, but blew the game tying layup with 27 seconds on the clock.
Hart was fouled and made the first. He missed the second, but Mitchell Robinson hauled in the biggest rebound of his career. The ball kicked out to Anunoby, who was fouled and made one of two. This time Vassell grabbed the board and called a timeout. Knicks up, 92-88. Just 20 seconds left.
Out of the break, the Spurs ran the same play the Knicks did to win Game Four—Castle inbounded, then dunked the putback of a Wemby miss. It was Castle’s first field goal of the night, after missing nine straight.
Out of the Knicks timeout, Brunson was mauled at halfcourt by Wemby and Harper but Foster ignored it. The ball finally reached Bridges, who was given a foul. At the line, Bridges missed the first but canned the second. 93-90. Spurs timeout, nine seconds left.
Shamet (back in the game) fouled Harper, and the rookie, who led his team with 25 points, wilted in the moment. He missed both, then fouled the rebounding Anunoby. OG missed one, made one, and the game ended with Wembanyama missing from deep. How fitting.
The Larry O’Brien trophy was presented. Jalen Brunson was named the MVP. Karl-Anthony Towns was finally a champion. The remaining Knicks fans at the Frost Bank Center celebrated. I cried. You cried. And after 53 years of wandering the desert, we finally made it home.
Up Next
Thank you for an amazing season, you beautiful Knickerbockers. The great Matthew Miranda has the recap. See y’all at the parade.
