NBA Finals: Why the Knicks will win the title
The Spurs' Victor Wembanyama and the Knicks' Jalen Brunson work out on Tuesday in San Antonio before the NBA Finals. Credit: AP/Eric Gay; Getty Images/Ronald Cortes
SAN ANTONIO — Just remember this: in nearly every movie, the alien is defeated.
It may seem a little off topic and outside the realm of X’s and O’s, but as the Knicks ready for Wednesday’s Game 1 of the NBA at the Frost Bank Center against the San Antonio Spurs and the otherworldly Victor Wembanyama, it’s worth noting that despite all of the fears rightfully caused by the player known as “The Alien,” the Knicks have managed to, well, make him look human at times.
The Knicks already captured one championship this season by defeating the Spurs and Wembanyama in the NBA Cup. It's one that they didn’t raise a banner for, instead focusing on the goal that the team carried since the preseason began in Abu Dhabi, maybe since last season’s title chase ended in the Eastern Conference finals. And there is every reason to believe that they can do it right now.
They are the hottest team in basketball, carrying an 11-game postseason winning streak into Game 1 Wednesday night. They are well-rested after not only having a nine-day break since finishing off a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals, but with another sweep in the second round, they have now played just four games in a span of 23 days.
“I think the attention to detail and approach is really the same because I think we truly believe we've been building championship habits since October,” Josh Hart said. “When you truly believe that, nothing changes. Everything is the same. You really double down on those habits. So nothing has changed for us. Obviously, this is like a zoo going on right now with all the media and all this stuff. But I think we're just focused on the task at hand and ready to get started with Game 1.”
The Knicks have healed — other than Mitchell Robinson with his off-the-court fractured right fifth metacarpal. They also had time to refine their game, to work on themselves and when the Spurs finally arrived with the Game 7 win over Oklahoma City, to game plan for Wembanyama.
There is no team that has been able to stop Wembanyama, but the Knicks are as well-suited as any in the NBA to give him issues on both ends of the floor. OG Anunoby, a sturdy 6-7 member of the All-Defensive team, who is not only strong enough to serve as a roadblock to Wembanyama when he tries to move inside the arc, but a smart enough defender to keep him off his preferred spots.
But it’s not just Anunoby as the Knicks can come at him in waves with seven-footers Karl-Anthony Towns and Robinson and even in switches turn to the long-armed Mikal Bridges or the tenacious Hart to make him work. And on the other end of the floor, the Spurs preferred method of keeping him near the rim as almost a zone defense unto himself can be spoiled by the Knicks.
He’ll likely draw the first defensive assignment on Josh Hart, daring Hart to shoot from the perimeter. Hart converted 41.3% from beyond the arc in the regular season and while he has struggled at times in the postseason with his shot, Mike Brown has quickly moved to Landry Shamet, who just completed the best shooting performance in a playoff series with 11-for-13 from three. If that puts Wembanyama on Towns, the versatile offensive skills of the Knicks center is a problem, able to shoot from three and also bull his way to the rim.
This is no fluke of a matchup. The Knicks were built to be a versatile team on both ends of the floor, armed with elite scorers and a pair of defensive wings with the size and athleticism to guard almost anyone on the court. They’ll need that with the Spurs trio of dangerous and athletic guards in De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper.
The Spurs are young. Harper is a rookie. Castle is in his second season and Wembanyama is just completing his third. All three are 22 years old or younger. San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson, who took over from the legendary Gregg Popovich, insists experience doesn’t matter, not now after a season of work to get here. But the Knicks have a maturity and calm that meets the moment.
But we really haven’t gotten to the reason the Knicks are poised to not just be here for the first time in 27 years, but to win a title for the first time in 53 years.
Jalen Brunson.
He is not only the leading scorer, the unstoppable force of elite footwork and master craftsmanship, not just Captain Clutch who has saved the Knicks on so many nights, but he is the leader. He is the captain, who has been the guiding force of all that the team has built over the last four years.
“I think we're a focused group,” Brunson said. “I think we're a hard-working group. I feel like we've been doubted a lot.
"There's been a lot of noise on the outside that we could obviously talk about, complain about, do something about. We've always just went back into the gym, worked on our game individually. When it came to practice, now we're focused, when it came to games, we kept getting better and better. I think our mentality is in the right place at the right time . . .
“You hear stories about people's experience in different situations. But the biggest experiences you get is actually going through things. As a leader, just making sure we're all on the same page, we're all learning together, we're all accountable for each other. We're going to go through this together, ups and downs, like we have been. That's what's most important.”
Someday soon it will be Wembanyama’s time. But now, here, it is Jalen Brunson’s time and it’s the Knicks time, too.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
