Our writers share their biggest surprises of the Finals so far as the Knicks take a 2-0 series lead against the Spurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jalen Brunson (20 points), Mikal Bridges (20 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points, 13 rebounds) combine for 61 in Game 2 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simplistic as this sounds<\/strong>, I\u2019m surprised that the Spurs didn\u2019t put their foot down \u2013 specifically, Victor Wembanyama\u2019s rather gargantuan size-20.5 sneaker \u2013 in\u00a0Game 2\u00a0on Friday. San Antonio has had a pattern of A) Encountering a little adversity early in its playoff series, but B) Responding pretty quickly to snuff the threats and move on. That resilience\/resolve was enough to convince me that we\u2019d all be heading to New York with a 1-1 series, a return to San Antonio for Game 5 assured and likely another return for a Finals that would go the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now? None of that is a given. Wembanyama and his teammates started fine Friday\u00a0but finished poorly. They have lost late leads in both games so far. The Knicks\u2019 confidence is\u00a0dialed up to 11\u00a0and, if they don\u2019t win one or both at Madison Square Garden in the coming days \u2013 as giddy as that city is \u2013 it will seem kind of cruel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From there, history and trends could carry this home: Teams that win the first two games of a Finals have won the championship 86.5% of the time (32-5). Teams that win the first two games on the road<\/em> are unbeaten (2-0). And if that sample size is too small to trust, Finals teams that take a 3-1 series lead have a compelling 97.4% success rate (37-1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If anyone had told me<\/strong> that through two games of the NBA Finals, Jalen Brunson would be shooting 33.9% (19-for-56) overall and 23.5% (4-for-17) from 3-point range and have a negative point differential (-4), I would have guessed the Knicks were trailing 0-2 rather than leading 2-0 as the series shifts to New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How this has happened brings me to my second surprise: Karl-Anthony Towns outplaying Victor Wembanyama. Through two games, Towns is averaging 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and four assists on incredible efficiency (55.6% FG, 42.9% 3P, 100% FT), leading all players in the series in plus\/minus (+25). And he\u2019s doing it against the reigning\u00a0Kia Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When defending Wemby, Towns has held the superstar to 20 total points on 36.8% (7-for-19) shooting over 16:01 of matchup time, forcing as many turnovers as made baskets (seven each). Towns has only committed four shooting fouls against Wemby. KAT has a history of getting into foul trouble, so being able to successfully defend Wemby while limiting his fouls has been huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karl-Anthony Towns delivers an efficient 21 points (8-12 FGs) in the Knicks’ Game 2 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flip the floor, and the success continues. In 11:54 of matchup time with Wemby as the primary defender, Towns has scored 16 points on 58.3% (7-for-12) shooting, including 50% (2-for-4) from deep against Wembanyama. Towns also has three assists against two turnovers while being guarded by Wemby, who has only blocked one of Towns\u2019 shots so far in the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the Spurs are going to get back into this series, this matchup needs to turn in their favor. They also have to hope Brunson doesn\u2019t get back to his normal efficiency \u2014 he entered the Finals shooting 48.6% from the field and 35.2% from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biggest surprise is the minimal impact<\/strong>\u00a0made by Keldon Johnson, the NBA\u2019s\u00a02026 Kia Sixth Man Award\u00a0winner. Actually, Johnson\u2019s performance has been mild throughout much of the playoffs, with the exception of a few stretches in the\u00a0Western Conference Finals\u00a0vs. Oklahoma City. Other than Dylan Harper, the Spurs\u2019 bench is producing efforts that are inconsistent at best against the Knicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, whenever Victor Wembanyama sits, backup center Luke Kornet is being targeted by the Knicks; he has one point and four rebounds in the two games and is forcing Wemby back on the floor. But it is Johnson and his six points and four rebounds combined through two games \u2014 after averaging 13 and 5 during the season \u2014 that is most troublesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big picture:<\/strong>\u00a0The Knicks are on the most surprising playoff run most of us have ever seen, even though it was fair to consider them the favorites in the Eastern Conference. To win 13 straight games, have the best point differential (plus-17.6 per game) in NBA playoff history, and take the first two games of the Finals on the road against a 62-win team is simply incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More specifically, it\u2019s surprising that they\u2019ve been able to defend at such a high level. The two least efficient series for any team in these playoffs are the Cavs\u2019\u00a0100.3 points per 100 possessions\u00a0in the conference finals and the Spurs\u2019\u00a0100.5 per 100\u00a0in the Finals. The assumption for the last two years is that you can\u2019t have an elite defense with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the floor, but the Knicks\u2019 two start have more than held up on that end, their supporting cast has been amazing, and the game-planning from Mike Brown and his staff have been terrific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the umbrella of \u201cI\u2019m stunned<\/strong> the Knicks have a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals,\u201d I\u2019m surprised at San Antonio\u2019s inability to generate consistent offense and produce when necessary. Yes, the Knicks have been a great defensive team in the playoffs, so credit to them. But the Oklahoma City Thunder were also great defensively, and the Spurs found a way in the West Finals. San Antonio has been unable to do that in the Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were better offensively in Game 2 \u2013 but not good enough to win (eight missed free throws and regrettable Victor Wembanyama turnover didn\u2019t help), and they haven\u2019t been able to execute in crucial late-game minutes. Wembanyama had 29 points in Game 2, but 22 came in the second half after attempting just four shots in the first half. That\u2019s not the sustainable offense that helped the Spurs reach the Finals. This also is the first time in the playoffs where it looks like the Spurs\u2019 youth is causing issues \u2013 the Knicks\u2019 veterans have played through their mistakes while the shellshocked Spurs seemed mired in theirs on this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our writers share their biggest surprises of the Finals so far as the Knicks take a 2-0 series lead against the Spurs. Jalen Brunson (20 points), Mikal Bridges (20 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points, 13 rebounds) combine for 61 in Game 2 win. What has surprised you the most through the first two games […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410528,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410527\/revisions\/410528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}