NEW YORK — San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson was trying to explain just how his team let this one slip away – how they blew the biggest lead in NBA Finals history – but he was being drowned out.
Speaking during his postgame press conference here at Madison Square Garden, one that was being conducted in a temporary press area whose walls were cloth room dividers, the celebrations from New York Knicks fans were so loud that his mic picked them up.
So how, exactly, did the Knicks complete this comeback? In short: they played a near-perfect second half and the Spurs went away from the things that had brought them early success. The reality, however, is far more nuanced than that.
San Antonio fell in love with the 3, and it betrayed them
The Spurs hit six of their first eight 3s on the night and set a Finals record for most 3-point conversions in a half, with 14. Headed into intermission, San Antonio was shooting 53.8% of its shots from beyond the arc, and was holding a 27-point lead at the end of the second.
With this kind of margin, and the talent the Spurs have, the team could’ve coasted to a 2-2 series tie had they simply stuck to the script that built the lead in the first place: attacking the paint to get high-percentage looks or kickouts to open shooters.
In the third quarter, however, the Spurs lacked the same level of aggression they wielded just minutes prior. San Antonio became complacent and lazy with their ball movement. They settled for 3s, which the Knicks started to contest with more vigor. And even though those 3s weren’t dropping, there was no concerted effort to grind through possessions to get better shots.
"We got away from what got us the 76 points in the first half," Johnson said after the game. "Just in terms of putting pressure on the rim, rolling after screens, running, continuing to find the paint, whether it’s for ourselves or for our teammate. We got on our heels, missed some shots. You don’t get as many free throws, high-percentage looks when you play on your heels like that."
In the second half, the Spurs missed 10 of their first 11 attempts from 3-point range, and that infected the rest of their offense. After scoring 24 points in the paint on 12-of-19 attempts (63.2%) in the first half, the Spurs eked out just 4 points in the paint on 2-of-14 attempts (14.3%) in the second half.
Overall, the Spurs converted just 3-of-17 (17.6%) of their 3-pointers after halftime and made just 8 field goals.
"Stopped moving the ball," Spurs star phenom Victor Wembanyama said when asked what changed in the second half. "Stopped executing."
The Knicks execute on both ends with superb shot-making and lock-down defense
Let’s start on the defensive side, where the Knicks limited the Spurs to just 30 points in the second half. The Knicks, after playing wholly undisciplined basketball in the first half, avoided careless fouls and used their lateral speed to stay in front of San Antonio’s attackers. The Knicks also ramped up their intensity and contested perimeter shots with far more urgency and force.
That improvement on defense appeared to fuel New York’s offense; the Knicks hit 21-of-41 shots (51.2%) in the second half, including a torrid 11-of-20 (55.0%) from 3-point range. OG Anunoby was perfect from beyond the arc on all five attempts in the second half.
But there was a total vibe shift on offense. The Knicks played looser and more fluidly, swinging the ball with ease and venturing into the paint to unsettle San Antonio’s defense.
That was ramped up in the fourth quarter, when, even though the Spurs held a 20-point lead with a little more than nine minutes to play, New York hit 10 consecutive attempts to close the gap.
"It was really just we need to chip away," Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said. "We needed to hit singles, get on base and make plays from there. I feel like we did that tonight and we found a way to really just continue to do the things that helped us get to this point,"
Victor Wembanyama’s late missed free throws
With 1:47 left to play in the game and the Spurs holding a one-point lead, Wembanyama sliced through the Knicks defense and appeared to have a wide open layup chance. Anunoby, however, grabbed Wembanyama and fouled him, preventing him from the easy look and putting him on the line.
It would prove to be a monumental choice. Wembanyama, perhaps because of the pressure of the moment, missed both free throws. The Knicks rebounded the ball and then Brunson bounced in a floater to give the Knicks a one-point lead.
De’Aaron Fox’s massive blunder in the final seconds
It’s tough to blame such a comprehensive collapse on just a single play, but the Spurs had the optimal chance to ice the game with just a few ticks on the clock.
Holding a one-point lead, the Spurs got a stop when Wembanyama altered Brunson’s floater with around 17 seconds left. The ball was deflected into the San Antonio backcourt and point guard De’Aaron Fox, one of the team’s veteran leaders, sprinted out to scoop it with 12.9 seconds left.
There was no shot clock, and the correct play would have been to dribble out into any open space to bleed as much time off the clock as possible. The Knicks would’ve fouled to put Fox at the line, and Fox – a 76.0% free throw shooter this season – would’ve had a pair of looks to extend San Antonio’s lead.
In situations like these, burning clock is always the play. Instead, Fox went for a layup that Anunoby – more on him later – blocked.
"Haven’t scored. Try to get a layup, get up three," Fox said after the game when asked to explain his thought process. "Force them to need a 3. OG made a good block."
Fox added that he thought he’d be "able to outrun" Anunoby.
The stunning tip-in from OG Anunoby
This is a highlight that, assuming the Knicks close out the series, will be played on repeat for generations. The Spurs made some curious decisions during the play.
Holding a one-point lead with 5.7 seconds to play, New York inbounded the ball to Brunson. The Spurs, after the Knicks set a screen, put Wembanyama, the only unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in NBA history, on Brunson. Wembanyama is a singular defender and one who constantly forces players to hesitate, if they attempt a shot at all.
Yet Fox left Anunoby, who had inbounded the ball, to double-team Brunson. It’s unclear if this was Fox’s decision or the coaching staff’s but that open space allowed Anunoby to streak unabated to the basket for the iconic tip-in with 1.2 seconds left to play.
"You know, the tip, how he had to control it and tip it in, that has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball," Knicks coach Mike Brown said after the game.
San Antonio’s attempted-game winning play
The play drawn up was reminiscent of one the Miami Heat used in early November to beat the Cavaliers when there was 0.4 seconds on the clock.
But as Dylan Harper looked to trigger an inbounds pass to a streaking Stephon Castle sprung open on a backdoor screen, it looked like Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns may have gotten a finger on the pass, because it fell well short of the intended target. Making matters even more painful for San Antonio, Castle was wide open.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Knicks pulled off stunning comeback vs Spurs to win Game 4
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