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San Antonio — Game 2 of the NBA Finals wrapped up on Friday night, June 5th, at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. Game 2 of this series was looking like a clean and easy victory for the Knicks, but then the Spurs came back to take the lead. In the final seconds, the Knicks turned the ball over twice, but the Spurs missed both opportunities to score, allowing the Knicks to come out victorious.

The Knicks have now won two straight games in San Antonio to lead the series 2-0. NBA history has not been kind to teams that are down 2-0 in the Finals. With only 5 teams doing the impossible, those teams are the 2021 Bucks, 2016 Cavs, 2006 Heat, 1977 Trail Blazers, and 1969 Celtics. Can the Spurs be the sixth team to do that?

Takeaways

Knicks: In this game, the Knicks got off to a slow start again in the first quarter, scoring 25 points to the Spurs’ 34, but they recovered to take the lead in the second quarter. With another subpar night from their star Jalen Brunson, who had a rough night again, shooting the ball effectively. Jalen dropped 20 points in the victory, but couldn’t find his shooting form, going 28% from the field and 25% from three. All around, a poor performance outside of him getting 4 steals.

Karl-Anthony Towns, if the Knicks don’t blow this lead and they don’t win the championship, has been the Finals MVP so far. He’s been so great on both sides of the ball. He’s been making the right plays over and over again, helping this team be up 2-0 right now. Now, across two games in this series, he has held Wemby to 20 points on an EFG% of 37%. In this game, there were times when a smaller guard was on him, and he took advantage of the mismatch and has been doing so throughout these two games.

Mikal had a bounce-back game offensively. In the second quarter, he put up 11 points on perfect percentages from the field and three. He continued that hot streak into the third quarter, scoring 9 points and again being perfect from the field, but in the fourth quarter, he lost his touch, not scoring any points.

In this game, they had a perfect recovery from a start that wasn’t up to the level that they’ve shown throughout these playoffs. In the fourth quarter, they let the Spurs rally back into the game by losing the lead in the 50th second. Luckily, Wemby made a pass to Stephon Castle that bounced off Castle because there was miscommunication on the court that led to a foul, allowing the Knicks to take back the lead, and Wemby missed the game-winning shot.

Overall, this team started poorly again, but they recovered to take the lead into the second half until those final minutes, when they couldn’t find a shot to go down. In that fourth quarter, they shot from the field at 28% and from three at 27%, so they got lucky; they could have easily lost this game if not for that Spurs mistake and missed shot.

Spurs: They came out as they did in game one in the first quarter, hot as a team on both sides, scoring 34 points on 65% from the field and 50% from three. The second happened, and they couldn’t hit anything, only scoring 18 points on 19% as a team. It was another up-and-down performance from both teams, but the Spurs still had a chance to win, only to be unlucky and make one mistake in the final seconds.

Wemby started this game poorly, scoring only 7 points in the first half on 50% shooting. In that second half, he stepped up and led his team in an almost-comeback, scoring 22 points on 52% shooting and hitting 50% from three, but made that mistake late and couldn’t drain the game-winning shot. He once again was poor defensively; he was getting blown by and allowing points in the paint that he typically wouldn’ t allow. He has been having trouble guarding KAT, who has been making Wemby guard other players, but that is both a Mitch Johnson and Wemby problem to figure out.

De’Aaron Fox gave this team life in this game. He was knocking down his shots to keep this team alive in that first half, but came out in that second half, he was conservative with his scoring, even though he still shot well, but only attempted three field goals. He was poor with the ball, turning it over 4 times.

Dylan Harper once again looked great, the only one off the bench to have an impact in this game with his scoring ability and his rebounding. He scored 15 points on 50% shooting with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Stephon Castle was poor from the field in this game, making 35% from the field and 50% from three, finishing with 14 points. He only played 27 minutes in this game because he got into foul trouble, but he also turned the ball over 4 times. He was a part of that mistake, but I think there was miscommunication between him, Wemby, and Mitch Johnson.

Overall, the team performed better than in Game 1. Wemby did have a slow start, but so did the team, and they turned it around in that second half to almost take the win, especially in that fourth. If not for that big mistake, they could have evened up this series.

Look ahead to Game 3

Knicks: To start off, they need to find ways to make Jalen Brunson more effective offensively. He’s been the offensive engine for this team throughout the season and the playoffs, but has been ineffective in the past two games. Having him become more of a playmaker, as he was in the last game, will help. I’ve been surprised that this Spurs team hasn’t targeted him more, given that he’s a defensive liability. Mike Brown will need to find ways to hide him on the defensive side of the ball because the Spurs will likely target him next game.  

I don’t know what more KAT could do beyond continuing to be aggressive when Wemby is guarding him and on mismatches. I do know he needs to be better with his fouls; he got into foul trouble again, with 5 total, and that’s one reason the Spurs went on a run to almost win. Without his presence on the court, this Spurs team isn’t afraid of Mitchell Robinson, who wasn’t bad in this game but wasn’t particularly impactful offensively.

The other players outside of Brunson need to continue their good scoring form, but will need to be better with their foul trouble. What I mean by ‘outside of Brunson’ is that if Brunson continues his poor shooting efficiency, then OG, Mikal, and Shamet, if they can even get a good Josh Hart scoring performance, will win this next game.

Spurs: In the next adjustments, they need to find a way to have Wemby do a better job guarding KAT. He was getting blown by him and other Knicks players. I think they should attack Brunson more often, screen him so whoever gets the switch onto him can eat him, as we saw Fox do last game. They will need to be better at winning the Kornet minutes and keeping hold of the ball.

I feel like you have to change the starting lineups, bring in Harper, and play him longer. I know he played 32 minutes, but playing him for 36 to 38 minutes could help this team because when he does play, he is impactful.

Castle needs to be better at defending and scoring the ball more effectively. Castle has shown his scoring ability like he did last game; he can’t be subpar with his scoring. He will need to find a way not to be physical because he’s been overdoing his physicality on defense.

Heading into this game, this team can’t lose confidence. Last game, they could have easily won, but mistakes and poor shooting in the first half cost them the game. They can’t lose hope or confidence, which I believe they won’t. If they can get Kedlon Johnson going again, who has been terrible these last two series on both sides of the ball. This team just needs one other player, whether off the bench or a starter, to drop 20-plus.

Predictions

The New York Knicks will be hosting Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 8th at 7:30 PM CT. This is the first time since the 1999 Finals that the Knicks will host an NBA Finals game, and that arena will be electric.

So I predict that the Spurs will take Game 3 to make the series 2-1. The final score being 116-110. Jalen Brunson has another inefficient scoring night. Wemby shows up in the big moment as he drops 30 points on 55% shooting, getting 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 blocks in the victory.