Dylan Harper played a smaller role than expected all season long, but in the postseason, he hasn't shied away when his number has been called.
Most second-overall picks spend their rookie season playing as the franchise center on a bad or rebuilding team. Dylan Harper, in his first season for the San Antonio Spurs, wasn't even the best bench player in the regular season.
Despite the unorthodox rookie role for the Rutgers product, Harper took the "demotion" in stride, playing winning basketball in his limited minutes.
As the season wore on, he was trusted more and more and showed that he would be the franchise cornerstone on most rebuilding teams. Instead of rebuilding, however, the Spurs put their foot down and won 62 games.
In the postseason, Harper has taken on a bigger role than in the regular season and, amid absences from Victor Wembanyama, has risen to the occasion.
How Spurs Rely on Dylan Harper
Wembanyama has missed parts of (or all of) three games already in this postseason, suffering a concussion in the first round and getting ejected in the second round.
In those three games, the Spurs are 1-2, but have kept it close in both of the losses. Harper is averaging 20.3 points per game in those contests, and the Spurs have outscored the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves by 15 points when Harper is on the floor.
For Harper, coming off the bench all season put him in a postion to be ready to adapt.
"The whole year, I think we had plenty of games where someone was out, and the next guy had to step up," said the rookie. "So, I mean, I think from those and last series when he was out, I think we kind of all gained experience and things like that from that."
While the Spurs didn't get the win in Game 4 even after leading in the fourth quarter, they think their effort and level of response were appropriate.
"Didn't close it out the way we wanted to, but I thought the reaction obviously was phenomenal," praised Mitch Johnson. "We were leading there until the end, and they made some shots. We didn't finish the possession with some rebounds, and got some tough whistles. But Minnesota made some plays, and they finished the game. But I thought the guys reacted in a phenomenal way."
"We're going to keep our heads high," Harper added. "I think there's nothing to be down about, first to four, you know. This series wasn't going to be easy, we all knew that. But for all of us, just keeping that mentality of just keep on attacking, attacking, and just keep going with the game plan and just being us."
Game 5 will tip off on Tuesday, back in San Antonio, with the winner moving to just one game away from the Western Conference Finals.