After maybe their most satisfying victory in years — a win over the defending champion Thunder to get to the NBA Cup Finals — the Spurs had yet another hurdle of their approach of some {hardware}: the New York Knicks. The 2 groups have put out a few entertaining match-ups over the past couple of seasons, and this one was no completely different. For 34 minutes, it regarded just like the Spurs had been on their approach to a win with clear, fluid offense and doing simply sufficient to maintain the Knicks at arm’s size on protection. Sadly, good issues don’t final ceaselessly. The dam lastly broke late within the third quarter, and the Spurs utterly collapsed because the Knicks ran away with the victory.
There was as least no gradual begin for the Spurs tonight, with Stephon Citadel inserting his will on offense early by getting within the paint and discovering his teammates with out turning the ball over, and the Spurs shortly discovered themselves up 17-12. Wemby nonetheless got here off the bench on this recreation, coming into the sport 5 minutes in as a substitute of ready till the second quarter, however his shot was off at first, and the Knicks responded with a 9-2 run, ultimately getting the lead as excessive as three. Nevertheless, the Spurs regrouped, and a 3 from Keldon Johnson and free throws from De’Aaron Fox gave them a 30-28 lead after 12 minutes.
Dylan Harper and Julian Champagnie mixed to hit 3 threes to open the second quarter, and the Spurs slowly constructed on their lead. Again-to-back poster dunks from Devin Vassell and Citadel acquired them forward 50-43, forcing one other Knicks timeout. After OG Anunoby had nearly single-handedly preserving New York within the recreation offensively with 20 factors within the half, his teammates began to catch up. They chipped away, tying the sport at 59 apiece off a steal with 27 seconds left, however Fox calmly responded has he all the time does with a mid-range jumper to provide the Spurs a 61-59 halftime lead.
Fox then hit consecutive threes to open the third quarter, and an alley-oop from Citadel to Luke Kornet had them on an 8-2 run. The Knicks initially had a little bit of a response and reduce the lead again to 4, however the Spurs fought proper again. Dylan Harper acquired the result in double figures a few occasions, together with on a four-point play the place he hit a 3 whereas Citadel was being flung to the ground within the submit. Wemby lastly acquired occurring offense with a few threes, and two alley-oops and a mid-range. His second three had the Spurs up 92-81 with two minutes left within the quarter and seemingly all of the momentum on their aspect, however every little thing would fall aside from there.
Throughout the ultimate 14 minutes of the sport, the Spurs had been outscored 43-21. They couldn’t hold the Knicks, particularly Mitchell Robinson, off the offensive glass as they opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run, with all their factors coming off offensive rebounds, and there was instantly a lid on the basket on the opposite finish. Unhealthy habits like turnovers and rushed photographs changed the fantastic offense the Spurs had displayed earlier than, and any ideas that they had about making a ultimate run had been shortly stymied by a Knicks response, and issues resulted in a 113-124 loss.
In the long run, the Spurs couldn’t win the Cup, however that shouldn’t cease them from being extraordinarily proud for getting there amidst all of the accidents and scheduling challenges they’ve been by to this point. They nonetheless get a hefty participation bonus (hopefully $230k is sufficient for Keldon Johnson’s llama), and so they acquired some precious expertise taking part in in video games with one thing on the road as they appear to make the playoffs for the primary time since 2019. There may be nothing for them to hold their heads about. (Additionally, this recreation doesn’t rely as a loss within the standings, so there’s that.)
