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San Antonio — Game 1 of the NBA Finals has concluded with the New York Knicks stealing one from the Spurs on their home court. The final score of the game was 105-95. Jalen Brunson led the team in scoring with 30 points on 38% from the field.  

This game had it all, from the Knicks’ rough start in the first quarter to the Spurs struggling to hit their shots. This game had ups and downs all across the board, with both the good and the bad, as well as the ugly.

Takeaways

Knicks: It started off rough for the Knicks, rough especially from Jalen Brunson. Brunson had 30 points on 38% from the field to end the game, but in the first half, he only had 11 points on 33% from the field and 11 turnovers. He made up for that performance in the second half, scoring 19 points on 43% from the field. They needed him to get going because no one besides Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby could score in that second half. It wasn’t pretty from Brunson in the beginning, but he turned it around in the end.

The MVP for this Knicks team was Karl-Anthony Towns. This guy coming into the game had a tough assignment guarding Wemby and all the narrative surrounding his prior playoff games. He held Wemby to 9 points on 18% EFG. The only way Wemby could score on KAT was at the free-throw line, making Wemby feel uncomfortable. KAT in the game wasn’t afraid to attack Wemby and shot well against this Spurs team with 18 points on 46% from the field with 12 rebounds, of which 4 were offensive.

OG came up big with his three-point shots in that fourth, scoring 12 points on 50% from the field and 66% in that quarter. Overall, OG had 17 points on 41% from the field and 50% from three, making it difficult for Fox and Vassell to get into a rhythm.

Josh Hart has to share the MVP with KAT. Josh didn’t shoot the ball efficiently at all in this game, but he made up for it on defense and with his hustle. He had 15 total rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in this game with only 3 points. His defensive rating was 70, the best rating in the game.

Overall, this Knicks team in that 1st quarter struggled to find their shot efficiently outside of KAT, but they did find it in the other three quarters in this game. Defensively, this team found ways to make Wemby uncomfortable and force the other Spurs players to make up for his shooting woes. Going forward, they will need to find ways to get those fouls number down. They committed 23 personal fouls in this game, something to get those numbers down.                  

Spurs: It looked great for this team in the first quarter. The Knicks went on a run, but they recovered by ending that 1st quarter up 27-19, but then they couldn’t get stops as they did in that first half, not hit their shots, and that begins with Wemby.

There is no sugarcoating how inefficient Wemby was shooting the ball in the game and just how bad he played in this game. He shot from the field 6-21, and from three, he shot 2-9; the only reason why he finished with 26 points was because of free throws, going for 12-13. He had 6 total turnovers in the game, something a player of his caliber should not have. The only thing he did well in this game was his defense and rebounding; other than those two things, he was in bad form.

Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, and Julian Champagnie were the only Spurs who were efficient in the game. Its hardd to believe that Harper is only a rookie with the confidence he has when attacking, shooting, and rebounding. Harper had 16 points on 60% shooting with 8 total rebounds. Castle had 17 points on 43% shooting, and he was great on the boards with 9 rebounds. Champagnie only shot threes and hit 5-10 and was the reason why they had a lead heading into the second half. He was also great at getting rebounds with 10 rebounds. Champagnie and Harper disappeared in that second half, combining for 5 points.

Fox could not get it going in this game. He has been, since getting injured in the last two series, he’s been a former shell of himself in these playoffs. In that Thunder series, he struggled to find his shot, but he can rely on playmaking, which wasn’t something that was noticeable in the game.

Look ahead at Game 2

Knicks: The Knicks can’t have the same start as they did at the beginning of that game from Brunson and any other Knicks player. So Jalen needs to bring his A-game offenseviely as we saw in that second half throughout the entirety of Game 2. He’s been forced to take difficult shots, and the Spurs will continue to do that, so he needs to be a better playmaker throughout this series.

KAT showed everyone watching that he’s been ready for this moment in Game 1, but he will carry over that defending performace to Game 2 on Wemby. If Brunson carries over the same performance as he had in Game 1, KAT needs to find his form from three. He has a deep bag for a  player at his position, and he will need to have more of it.

Mikal Bridges wasn’t bad last game, but he wasn’t as noticeable as he can be, and he has struggled throughout these playoffs this season, but he will need to be more aggressive offensively. With how good he and OG are on both sides of the ball, Mikal will need to find that offensive spark in Game 2, even if he has 11 points on a efficent night, it will help the team.

Overall, if the Knicks players can replicate their performance as they did in Game 1 into Game 2. With Brunosn now shaking off that rust he had coming into this game, and the same goes for his teammates. This Spurs team won’t have the same type of performance as they did, especially with Wemby, so they will need to make adjustments throughout the game. One adjustment Mike Brown will need to make is to find ways to defend without committing fouls, because 23 fouls is unacceptable.

Spurs: It starts with Wemby not having the same  performance he had in Game 1. His other teammates outside of Fox played well enough to keep it close, but Wemby could not find anything to fall. He did get KAT to have 4 fouls, but KAT made him uncomfortable when he shot the ball, so he’ll need to make adjustments. Defensively, he doesn’t need to change much, but he will need to keep hold of the ball, and that’s another thing the Knicks did, which was force him to turn the ball over.

Fox will need to be a key player in this game and the series. He has everything to guard and blow by defender but that injury has put limitations on his abilities as a driver and scorer. Fox will need to be a key playmaker as he was when he came back to play in the Thunder series. He can be a difference maker, but hasn’t shown it yet.

Can Harper, Champagnie, and Castle replicate that same performance or even outperform that performance? I believe they can, but who can do it? Harper is most likely to be that player in Game 2. His confidence when attacking the paint on both sides of the ball is something we don’t see out of rookies espeically in the playoffs.

Keldon Johnson didn’t play much in Game 1, only 8 total becasue he got three early fouls and was targeted. Even in those eight minute he didn’t look good shooting the ball, only made 1-4 from the field. If he got to play more, he could’ve been effective scoring, but that’s not the world we’re living in. The 6MOTY will need to be better in Game 2 in order for the Spurs to have a chance.

Overall, this Spurs team can hang with this Knicks team, but can they hang with a Knicks team that isn’t rusty? We will see in Game 2. The Spurs will need Wemby to play better than he did in Game 1 thats a given. They also need to keep attacking and punishing this Knicks defense by getting foul-prone players in fouls as they did in Game 1. They will need that hero late into the game since Wemby will most likely be tired. Who will that be?

Prediction

Game 2 of the NBA Finals will see the Spurs tie up the series 1-1. The Spurs will take down the Knicks 111-105. Wemby will bounce back from his bad performance in Game 1, scoring 37 points with 15 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 6 assists to take Game 2.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals will be back at the Frost Bank Center with the Spurs looking to tie the series at 1-1 and not letting the Knicks go up 2-0. The game is on June 5th at 7:30 PM CT on ABC/ESPN.