Spurs fall to Knicks on Christmas Day

Wemby’s big night isn’t enough to put San Antonio over the top in New York

Victor Wembanyama‘s rampage wasn’t enough to push the Spurs to a win in their Christmas showdown with the Knicks. The game featured 20 lead changes, including six in the fourth quarter.

“When you’re on the road, you got to put teams away and probably finish a few more possessions, a little bit tougher, a little bit more disciplined…,” coach Mitch Johnson said after the game.

The first quarter was a defensive tussle. The Knicks pressured the dribble and pass well, making it difficult for the Spurs to score. On the other side, the visitors focused on taking away the rim. The only Knicks they lost track of were Mikal Bridges on cuts and Karl-Anthony Towns near the basket as the period went on. And defensive rebounding was an issue, as the hosts scored 10 second chance points for the period.

Wembanyama had 10 points, making two 3-pointers, a layup and freebies, but mostly struggled to make shots. Jeremy Sochan was the only other Spur to make multiple field goals, as the team had only seven of 21 attempts in the lane.

Then they pushed the pace, scoring five consecutive baskets early in the shot clock to start the second quarter. Wemby took a brief break while his team was up five and he plus Chris Paul came back in with the Spurs down a point with nearly five minutes left in the half. Both of them resettled the team, taking a seven-point advantage heading into intermission via screen rolls and getting the Spurs out in transition. The defense held the Knicks to 39 percent shooting, including holding Jalen Brunson to one of five baskets in the period.

At halftime, the team had 32 paint points, 11 on the break, eight via second chances and five off turnovers. Subsequently, the team’s offense came out of the break struggling, but Sochan kept them afloat with eight points. For the Knicks, KAT was the go-to man, attacking the Spurs like an unfed lion. His fifth basket forced Johnson to call a stoppage about halfway through the period.

Wembanyama then got rolling out of the timeout, like a heavyweight boxer coming out of his corner after his trainer rips into him for losing a few rounds. But it wasn’t enough to keep a lead because Bridges caught fire again, making four of five shots to lead a 10-0 Knicks run to end the third quarter.

Next, the Spurs started the fourth down 88-83. Wemby had five of eight baskets and Paul’s 3-pointer cut the last deficit to three with 41 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough. New York had possession and recovered the miss San Antonio needed to tie. Additionally, the defense folded in the quarter as Bridges kept nailing threes and Hart added six points.

“[Bridges] had a heck of a game… definitely some things I probably could have done to try to get the ball out of his hands. It’s tough when you have Jalen Brunson over there,” Johnson said.

The Spurs lost 117-114. They were outscored in the paint 58-50 and could only force five Knicks turnovers.

Wembanyama said, “We let them get rebounds on us, we let them move us a little too much. So this is more what it was about. They didn’t win against us because they played better basketball. Not at all.”

He also added later that the team is not ready.

Play of the game:

Paul fed Stephon Castle on the break for a mean, two-handed poster over Brunson. The Spurs must find ways to use his athleticism more in the open court.

Takeaways:

• The Spurs had an accurate game shooting, recording 60.2 percent of effective field goals, good enough for the 82nd percentile of all games played this season, per Cleaning the Glass. Most shots were attempted from 3-point range (45 percent) and at the rim (38 percent).
• Wembanyama had 42 points on 16 of 31 attempts, with 18 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, one steal and four turnovers. Every game, he makes at least one amazing pass. This time, it was his bounce pass to Devin Vassell, cutting up the baseline for a dunk. Additionally, he is also showing an improvement in guarding pick and roll on the perimeter. For example, the Knicks started the third quarter targeting Wembanyama in PnR, but he blew it up immediately on the left wing for his third block. In spite of the loss, it was one of the most impressive performances of his career.
• Sochan was the second-best Spur, logging 21 points on 80 percent shooting. He also got time guarding Brunson and forced him into three misses. His biggest flaw was having five turnovers.
• Bridges had 15 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter. The baskets he scored on the dribble were over Champagnie, Sochan and Paul.
• The defense was potent in the restricted area, holding the Knicks to 7.6 percentage points below league average. Yet, they were not as sharp protecting the corners, conceding that area eight of 15 times.
• Despite Wemby’s 16 defensive rebounds, the team gave up too many extra opportunities to the Knicks, and they punished them with 19 second-chance points. The Spurs must do a better job of getting nastier on the hunt for loose balls.