The San Antonio Spurs blew a 14-point lead to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and will have to make one key change if they want to even things up on Friday.
The San Antonio Spurs are down 1-0 in the NBA Finals after dropping the first game to the New York Knicks, 105-95.
The Knicks successfully slowed down Victor Wembanyama, with Karl-Anthony Towns playing solid defense and bringing him out on the perimeter on the other end of the floor. However, all season long, when Wemby was neutralized, the rest of the Spurs usually stepped up.
That wasn't the case in Game 1, as Wembanyama's inefficient 26 points led the Spurs, and the team shot only 25 percent from 3-point range.
After a lackluster game from one player in particular, a massive adjustment is needed.
Spurs Need to Start Dylan Harper
De'Aaron Fox was not listed on the injury report heading into Game 1, but he probably should have been.
He was slow to get down the court, missed most of his shots short, and added only seven points and five dimes. Harper, meanwhile, finished with 16 points and eight rebounds and was the best Spur on the floor in the first half.
Fans have long expected Harper to eventually usurp Fox, but could it happen in the Finals? Wembanyama knows an adjustment is needed, although maybe not one that drastic.
"There's probably going to be 30 things that we're going to address tomorrow at 11:00 AM or something," he said after the game.
The Spurs simply did not look like themselves down the stretch, often playing timid basketball. Fox, usually the steady engine, was the source of a lot of problems.
"Missing shots or not, 16 assists for us is not our brand of basketball," said Mitch Johnson. "So just zoomed all the way out, there are a lot of things that we've discussed in this press conference that we can get better at and clean up. But that's something that is not up to the standard, even anywhere close to what we're used to and how we play."
Down 1-0 and with one more game left in front of their home crowd, the Spurs will spend Thursday and the first half of Friday searching for answers. With Game 2 tipping off on Friday night, hopefully they'll have found something by then.
