SAN ANTONIO — Five-plus minutes through the third quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, the New York Knicks’ 11-game winning streak was in major jeopardy.
The Knicks missed nine of their first 10 shots in the early part of the period. They trailed the San Antonio Spurs by 14 points and were floundering.
Then something crazy happened. The Knicks found new life from an unlikely source: the Spurs.
New York rallied to tie the game by the end of the period, gave up the lead briefly late in the fourth and then pulled away late for a 105-95 win.
San Antonio missed eight of its 12 shots and committed two turnovers in the final 5:57 of the third quarter.
The Spurs recovered in the fourth, and a 9-0 run put them up 95-94 after a pair of free throws by Victor Wembanyama with 2:16 remaining.
The rest of the game belonged to New York, with plenty of help from the Spurs. San Antonio fumbled away its chances in the final minutes. Wembanyama lost the ball out of bounds on a reckless drive into the lane. He and De’Aaron Fox missed shots, and Fox also committed a turnover.
“There were a few times it felt like we didn’t have an appropriate offensive possession in terms of trying to be greedy for our best shot, using spacing and passing, because that’s how we play,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
San Antonio looked gassed in the final five minutes while the Knicks were the team making the plays. Was that disparity due to the fact that the Spurs were just two days removed from winning a grueling seven-game series against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder while the Knicks had eight days of rest after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals?
Johnson and his players refused to use the “fatigue” card.
“I’m sure guys got tired at times, but I didn’t feel like anyone’s performance was based on fatigue,” Johnson said. “We just need to be sharper and execute better and continue to work the game and not fight it at times and play the right way.”
Spurs reserve guard Dylan Harper, who had 16 points and eight rebounds, said the game was “like a track meet.”
Harper added, “I think the energy was high — like everyone was just getting up and down. I feel like both teams were fatigued.”
Jalen Brunson, who carried the Knicks with 30 points, was quick to say there was no letdown from the Spurs in the fourth quarter.
“(The win) was a mixture of us playing good defense and us obviously getting a little lucky,” Brunson said. “But San Antonio comes ready to play more than any other team that we’ve faced, and we have the utmost respect for them. We know we have to be ready for Game 2. We just found a way to make plays within the game tonight.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown credited his squad with adapting during the game and continuing to bring energy.
“These guys are resilient, man,” Brown said. “They get better as the game goes along. They really try to pay attention to the details that we are throwing at them. They try to bring energy and multiple efforts, and that’s what we needed tonight.”
The Spurs don’t have much time to fix the things that ailed them down the stretch heading into Game 2 on Friday, but their superstar hasn’t lost confidence.
“Obviously, we’ve been down in a series before,” said Wembanyama, referring to San Antonio losing Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. “But I’m not kicking myself about anything really. I’m not worried (in) the slightest.
“When we play bad, when I play bad, is when we shoot ourselves in the foot. This is why I’m not worried. We’re going to be so much better. I’m going to be so much better.”
–Steve Habel, Field Level Media
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