Despite the Spurs hosting Game 1 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio and the excitement surrounding the first appearance of young superstar Victor Wembanyama in the championship series, they suffered a disappointing 105-95 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Spurs held a lead as large as 14 points at one point, but the Knicks tied things up heading into the fourth quarter, and then capitalized on their opponents’ turnovers and inexperience to win Game 1.
Jalen Brunson put together a heroic performance to lead the way, fighting off several injury scares and finishing with 30 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Following the Game 1 loss, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson called out the various mistakes his team made and how they’ll need to clean things up moving forward.
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Speaking about Victor Wembanyama, Johnson explained that they need better to integrate him into their offensive strategy against the Knicks.
“He missed a few shorts early. We gotta get him moving in space and towards the rim, whether that’s on [pick-and-rolls] or running in transition, but we need the pressure on the rim and the force in the paint,” Johnson said at his postgame press conference. “And then obviously they did a good job being physical and showing crowds, but we need to do a better job of establishing that early on.”
“We definitely again didn’t have enough pressure on the paint, whether that was in transition or in the halfcourt, and we gotta make sure we’re still putting force in the paint, and we’ll still get our 3s up with that,” he told reporters.
Johnson also said he believes Wemby “holds himself accountable” and that he probably learned a lot from the first game, which he can modify moving forward in the series. In addition, the Spurs coach said having only 16 assists is not their brand of basketball.
“There’s a lot of things we discussed in this press conference that we can get better at and clean up, but that’s something that’s not up to the standard that even anywhere close to what we’re used to and how we play,” he said.
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The Spurs committed 13 turnovers, leading to 19 points for the Knicks. In addition, San Antonio shot just 36 percent from the field, making 32 of 89 shots.
Johnson’s comment on his team’s 16 assists is also telling. The Spurs ranked ninth in the NBA this past season with 28.1 per game. They dished out 23 of them in their Game 7 win of the Western Conference Finals.
The Spurs staff will now review film with their players and try to develop a better game plan for their next crack at the Knicks, a team that seems on a mission to claim the championship.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs arrives on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in San Antonio.
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For more about the NBA Playoffs, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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