NBA Matchups: June 8

San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks

Team Totals: Spurs 107.3, Knicks 109.3

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 Castle was available late from an injury, said they were not consistent enough in Game 2, said Castle got caught with some extra dribbles, said they have to do a better job of getting Wemby the ball early and “four shots at half is not acceptable.”

Brown quotes: Said there were so many runs and the Knicks could’ve folded, said the team was connected and it paid dividends, said Mitch made two big plays on Wemby late, said Mitch gets “the chill vibes” when he listens to country music, said it’s his job to adjust to how KAT is playing, said Shamet embraced his opportunity and has been able to run with it, said Mikal made Fox work while Mikal was getting a lot of the offense when Brunson was on the bench, said it was important to keep them out of the paint, said they have to spray it if Wemby shuts the door on the paint.

Stats and notes:

*The Knicks had a 14-point lead with 6:04 left, and the Spurs managed to even take the lead with 57 seconds left, but New York was able to hold them off for the 2-0 lead. The Spurs had some major problems offensively in both games, and San Antonio was unable to run in the last 1.5 games of this series. The Knicks won fast-break points 19-11 in Game 2 and also won on second-chance points, 14-9. The Spurs actually were able to generate some rim volume for their second-highest frequency in a game during the playoffs, but they couldn’t find efficiency there. They’ve been excellent when they get the ball into the paint, and they shot 70.6% off their 32 paint touches in two games (17 FGAs). The Knicks have been locked in with their PNR defense, and they’ve been excellent all playoffs at limiting O boards. On the other side, the Spurs’ defense held it down, and they’ve kept the Knicks to sub-40th-percentile performances in the halfcourt over two games. New York hasn’t had the rim frequency, and their 56.0% at the rim in Game 2 was their worst of the playoffs. The Knicks have been bombing away on corner 3-pointers, but the Spurs are getting more C&S stuff in this series (61 to 50; the Knicks are making 36.0% compared to 29.5%). MSG is going to be a madhouse, and we’ll see how the Spurs respond to their toughest challenge of the year.

*Mitch Johnson said he’s going to feed Victor Wembanyama a ton, and he should come out very aggressive here. In the second half of Game 2, Wemby had a 41.7% usage rate versus 18.6% in the first half. Wemby still only had eight paint touches in Game 2 (just six in Game 1), and he was still able to get nine shots at the rim in the second half. Johnson has mentioned after both games that Wemby needs more shots, and I’d expect him to have massive usage here. Even if he gets the usage, it’s still a tough matchup for him with Karl-Anthony Towns playing at a high level and Mitchell Robinson holding up with his broken hand. I still love this spot for Wemby.