Spurs vs. Knicks player grades: Wembanyama and Fox struggle in Game One.

The San Antonio Spurs have to be kicking themselves after Game One of the NBA Finals. A fourteen-point lead evaporated in the third and fourth quarters. San Antonio had a chance to come back at the end of the game, but squandered the opportunity in a 105-95 loss. The Spurs have now lost home court advantage and find themselves in a somewhat desperate situation in Game Two as they try to tie the series 1-1.

It was a disappointing game from the Spurs’ two stars, Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. Neither shot the ball well and made some critical mistakes on the defensive end. They were thoroughly outplayed by the New York Knicks’ best players, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite the poor performance in Game One, the Spurs are -220 favorites on FanDuel to win Game Two.

Wembanyama and Fox will be the focal point of our player grades for Game One. As a quick reminder, player grades are based on each player’s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A “C” grade represents the average performance for an individual (yes, this has been changed). If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.

Victor Wembanyama

38 minutes, 26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 6 turnovers, 2 fouls, 6-for-21 shooting, 2-for-9 threes, -3

For a brief stretch in the fourth quarter, it looked like Wembanyama would will the Spurs back into the game. Some errant shots and a turnover off his own foot quickly dashed the Spurs’ chances of a win. Wembanyama didn’t get the ball in many advantageous situations offensively. The Knicks did a great job at keeping him out of the paint and forcing him to take tough jumpers. It looked like he was frustrated and started forcing his offense, rather than letting it come within the flow of the game. That played right into New York’s hands.

Towns outperformed him on both ends. KAT held up against Wemby defensively and torched him several times on offense. Wembanyama applied a lot of pressure to Towns on the perimeter, but couldn’t keep up when he blew by him for easy layups. If Wembanyama is going to continue to guard Towns, he needs to find a way to give him space without allowing open jumpers.

Grade: C-

De’Aaron Fox

38 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 5 fouls, 3-for-13 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, +/- 0

Fox was ice cold and took some bad shots from deep, including a couple of erratic pull-up threes. He did a decent job passing the ball, but the Spurs missed open shots. His defense was shoddy. He made a costly mistake in the last minutes of the game, fouling Mikal Bridges on a jump shot after missing a bunny in the paint that would have tied it. Fox is clearly still struggling with an ankle injury, but he needs to give them something offensively if they want to win this series.

Grade: D

Stephon Castle

34 minutes, 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 7-for-16 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, -9

Castle kept the Spurs in the game offensively when the Knicks were starting to pull away in the fourth. His mid-range jumper was working for the most part, and he was one of the few Spurs who could get to the rim. He missed a few out-of-rhythm threes as the Knicks closed out more aggressively than he’s seen in previous series.

Castle played effective defense on Brunson and slowed him down significantly in the first half. The problem is that the Knicks made Castle switch off of him way too often. He wasn’t guarding Brunson much in the clutch when the Knicks’ star sealed the game.

Grade: B+

Julian Champagnie

31 minutes, 16 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 fouls, 5-for-11 shooting, 5-for-10 threes, -8

Champagnie picked up where he left off in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals, hitting threes in the first half. He cooled off in the second half and never got back on track. The Knicks hunted him on offense down the stretch, setting screens to get him switched onto Brunson. New York’s star guard destroyed him one-on-one late in the game in the run that ultimately led to the Knicks’ victory.

Grade: B

Devin Vassell

36 minutes, 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-for-11 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, -13

Vassell did a nice job on defense when switched onto tougher matchups like OG Anunoby, Brunson, and Towns. Maybe the Spurs should look at having him take one of those matchups full-time. Vassell’s shot still isn’t falling, even the open ones. He is trying to make up for his cold shooting by playing aggressively everywhere else – Vassell grabbed a team-high four offensive rebounds in the loss.

Grade: C

Dylan Harper

28 minutes, 16 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-for-10 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, -5

Harper was the Spurs’ most effective offensive player. His size, strength, and ball control allowed him to punish New York’s smaller guards, particularly in transition. Like Champagnie, he also cooled off significantly in the second half and was noticeably absent in clutch time. It makes sense to trust a veteran like Fox to close out a high-stakes game, but when Harper had proven to cause such a matchup problem for the Knicks, it was a bit confusing to see him watching from the sideline as they pulled away.

Grade: A

Keldon Johnson

8 minutes, 3 points, 3 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, +1

Johnson didn’t play much in Game One, partly because he didn’t make the most of his offensive opportunities. He wasn’t able to use his size to bully his way into the paint like he normally does. He hit one open three, but didn’t contribute much outside of that.

Grade: C

Luke Kornet

10 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 3 fouls, -7

The Kornet minutes weren’t as stark as they have been in previous series. It looked like the Spurs would thrive with Kornet on the floor after he broke up a Mitchell Robinson lob. But in his next stint on the floor, Robinson landed an and-one dunk on his head. With Wembanyama looking more and more worn down by this long playoff run, Kornet’s minutes become even more critical. San Antonio has to survive when Kornet is on the floor so Wembanyama can get a breather. They were a step closer to that in Game One.

Grade: C

Harrison Barnes

12 minutes, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 foul, 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, –2

Barnes played the second-most minutes off the bench. He gave them some needed offense as a forward who can put the ball on the deck a bit and hustle after rebounds. But he continues to struggle from three-point range. If he’s not shooting the ball well, it’s hard for him to make a large impact on the game.

Grade: C

Carter Bryant

4 minutes, 1 point, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, -4

Bryant was brought in to play physical defense on Brunson, and it backfired. Brunson is too smart and in control of his body to let an undisciplined defender like Bryant take him out of his rhythm. Bryant would be better served guarding one of the Knicks’ more physical players, like Anunoby or Towns. This might not be the series to play the rookie.

Grade: Incomplete