NBA Matchups: June 10

New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs

Team Totals: Spurs 106.8, Knicks 108.8

Injury Report: Mitchell Robinson (available, hand)

Spurs projected starters: De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Victor Wembanyama

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Offensive Ranks: Spurs 3rd (4th halfcourt), Knicks 4th (7th halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: Spurs 3rd (4th halfcourt), Knicks 10th (14th halfcourt)

Season Series: 2-1 Knicks (including Cup game)

Noteworthy Missed Games: Josh Hart (1), Landry Shamet (1), Deuce McBride (1), Mitch Robinson (1)

Mitch quotes: Said they made strides with their ball movement, said they had the right approach in the third quarter, said Wemby has “numerous sources of motivation” for big games, said Fox is one of the best closers in the league and they trust him with the ball late (hit game-sealing shot), said they are very good on defense when it’s late in the clock, said the three-guard lineup is something that they haven’t been able to get to too often despite all three being great players.

Brown quotes: Said the Spurs won the game but the free-throw disparity will “lower our odds big time,” said the 24-8 second-half gap was something he never thought he’d see in an NBA Finals, said the Spurs hit first to start both halves, said they gave up too many easy shots at the rim to Wemby, said they were stagnant on offense for the first time in a while, said they were standing and watching too much and it was tough to run plays because the Spurs were being so physical, said they didn’t execute their defensive responsibilities, said they stopped moving after the first screen, said the Spurs were junking the game up with Wemby hanging around near the basket.

Stats and notes:

*Certainly the Knicks view Game 3 as a missed opportunity with the FTA gap in the second half (24-8; it was 32-22 for the game). The Knicks’ offense was not great yet again, with just a 93.3 O rating in the halfcourt, but New York was able to get some transition looks along with big offensive rebounding output (21 second-chance points to San Antonio’s 10) to put them at 119.4 points per 100. The Knicks just aren’t getting much at the rim, and their passing wasn’t there with just 18 assists. They assisted on just 45.0% of their makes, their lowest output of the playoffs (second lowest in a game all year was 45.2% on Dec. 9). They had just 33 potential assists in this loss, too (averaged 41 before). Plus, the Knicks had 35 FGAs with 0-7 seconds left on the shot clock (39.8% of shots; 26.6% before last game in the playoffs). It’s just going to be so tough for the Knicks to score in the halfcourt, and they’ll need to turn up the mistakes from the Spurs. Speaking of which, San Antonio won the points-off-turnovers battle 21-7 for the biggest edge of the game. The Spurs were also fantastic with their halfcourt offense at 107.4 points per 100, their second-best game in the last two rounds (Game 6 vs. OKC: 119.2). Plus, they also crushed on offense in the Victor Wembanyama minutes at a 124.7 O rating. The Knicks kept the Spurs in the halfcourt at an absurd 88.7% of plays, their highest frequency in any game this year (88.5% vs. HOU on March 8). The Spurs have really pushed up their rim frequency in the last two games, and of course, their eight turnovers were a big reason why they had such great efficiency. San Antonio was also more effective at attacking Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns in their PNR game. If the Spurs take care of the ball like that again, they’ll have a great chance to even up this series.

*Victor Wembanyama kept the pressure on, as promised. He had 11 paint touches as the Spurs were much more deliberate with how they were able to feed him at the basket. It was his best efficiency in a game over the last two rounds (72.9 TS%), and the usage was OK at 28.0%. He has to play so many minutes, and the Spurs were able to avoid Wemby getting tagged. With the Knicks taking away some transition, I’d expect Wemby to have usage in the 30s while going at KAT. He also passed it very well with 11 potential assists (six real assists). I really like Wemby again.