After losing both of their home games to the New York Knicks, the San Antonio Spurs now face a two-game deficit in the NBA Finals, and their task doesn’t get any easier.
The next two games are in extra-excited New York City, occurring at Madison Square Garden, where the fans will be fully backing their team, even more so than Knicks fans did in San Antonio’s venue.
Head coach Mitch Johnson realizes it’s critical that his team get a victory, or else they’ll face a four-game sweep. This fate has befallen the Knicks’ previous two opponents: the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“We’ve got one game tomorrow night … at Madison Square Garden. It’s the only game that matters, and we’ve got to come in here ready to win it,” Johnson told reporters ahead of the crucial matchup.
“We’re at a stage now where the next game is gonna be the biggest game, until we’re not playing,” Johnson said during a media session in NYC.
“We have to continue to execute and compete and finish plays and move on to the next play and understand that there’s gonna be circumstances, there’s gonna be outcomes throughout a game that may not go your way, and we have to continue to be better at the things we can control and influence,” he told reporters.
Johnson also said his team hasn’t “played to our standard” and credited the Knicks for playing exceptionally well in the first two games. He said there were opportunities they could’ve taken advantage of but didn’t, including starting a game with a sizeable lead and not getting the win.
“We’ve put ourselves in positions before to make them miss, and we have to clean up the rebounds and finish possessions out, and we have to be better again at when we put ourselves in good starting spots to take advantage of the things we are doing well,” Johnson said.
Game 2 looked like another Knicks’ double-digit win was going to occur, until Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and the Spurs surged to make a comeback, even taking a lead within the final stages of the game. Unfortunately, a Wemby pass up court hit a running Stephon Castle in the back, and the Spurs had to commit a foul on Jalen Brunson.
That was one of 16 turnovers for the inexperienced Spurs, with Wemby, Castle, and Fox accounting for four turnovers each.
Even with that turnover and late foul, the Spurs had a final shot to win, but Wemby’s contested jumper missed, and the Knicks survived for a one-point win, escaping San Antonio with a 2-0 lead.
One has to wonder whether that sort of loss ahead of a game at hostile MSG will be too demoralizing to recover from, or whether the young Spurs will allow that pain to push them towards a critical win in Game 3.
The Knicks and Spurs meet for Game 3 of the NBA Finals starting at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
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