Dylan Harper deserves so much credit not only for the scoring barrage, but for the early transition push
The last play, him getting it up court early forces Brunson to be on him, & Harper exploits that matchup. The 2nd Champagnie 3, it was Harper's early offense attack that got them the advantage that resulted in the triple
The Knicks need to be better at weeding out Wembanyama, and putting him in the action
Without Brown's help, idk what happens in this play. Wemby wants to pre-switch everything and stay low no matter what. We see Brown having to direct Shamet to get out of that corner, so that Wemby can't pre-switch the ball-screen
It looks like Knicks have the Spurs' number - three wins by 10+ points in four games.
The loss was by 2, and the Knicks were without Hart, Robinson and Shamet.
- 3 out of 4 games against the Knicks
- 9 out of 104 against the rest of the league
The Knicks have won a near-impossible 12 straight playoff games, tied for the second longest such streak in history (2017 Golden St won 15 straight). This is pretty simple now, if they win their 13th straight, this series is over. Spurs win, we start over with the Knicks having stolen home court. I had the Knicks in 6.
Put together a bunch of my observations from Game 1 between the Knicks and Spurs.
Delightful opening contest to what should be a great series: https://t.co/HoaKRMQjy3
After the Knicks rushed out to a 7 pt lead, it was Wembanyama's defense that helped stem the tide before Harper started scoring off drives
1. Helps off Hart strong side to thwart Brunson's drive, recovers back out to Hart, then protects the rim once Castle runs Towns off the line
2. As soon as Brunson rejects the screen, Wemby has Keldon Johnson stay on Towns, so he could stop Brunson's drive
3. Wemby loads up strong side, Spurs zone up around him. Shamet actually has a clear path to the rim, but Victor gets the deflection & the steal
A few things I did in this podcast before G1:
- Picked NYK in 6
- Said the Knicks had an info advantage to start the series, so winning G1 or G2 would be expected/needed
- Said that figuring out Wemby's *defense* was harder than solving his offense.
🧵Knicks vs Spurs RANT:
We’ve gotten solid (nuanced!) pushback about why ghost coverage won’t work, including:
🔹Towns is too skilled to crossmatch
🔹Mike Brown has too many tactical counters
🔹Josh Hart has evolved as a shooter and shot opponents out of it
These are all fair.
“Anything can happen in a 48-minute game, as long as you stay the course."
At @YahooSports, live from Texas: I wrote about another road win for the Knicks, who stunned the Spurs with another Game 1 comeback that, at this point, scarcely seems stunning: https://t.co/6acYwiTDhE
I'll be breaking down the biggest plays, trends, and matchups after every Finals game for ESPN.
Here's my Game 1 analysis, starring Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and the indefatigable Knicks:
https://t.co/jKD4rp86TY