Knicks Steal Game 1 in San Antonio | INSTANT REACTION

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily Podcast: Knicks Steal Game 1 in San Antonio | Instant Reaction (June 4, 2026)

Host: Dave DuFour
Guests: Jared Weiss, Esfandiar "Es" Baraheni (on-site in San Antonio)

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers an "instant reaction" and analysis to Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals, where the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in San Antonio. The hosts break down pivotal moments, analyze star performances (notably Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns), discuss coaching tactics, home crowd energy, and what both teams need to adjust moving forward.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Knicks Victory: Grit, Resilience, and Star Power

• Atmosphere in San Antonio:

  • The Knicks crowd showed up in force, creating a "Knicks type crowd" in an away arena.
    • “There were Knicks chants during the national anthem… we're in the United States Knicks right now.” – Es (02:38)

• Jalen Brunson’s Heroics:

  • Brunson faced two injury scares in the first quarter (Harrison Barnes rolling over his leg, Luke Kornet stepping on his ankle) but played through noticeably hobbled.
    • “Jalen Brunson is still the scariest man on the planet in a close basketball game with five minutes left.” – Dave (03:40)
  • Compared to clutch legends: “Jalen Brunson is as efficient, if not more efficient, than Michael Jordan in terms of clutch playoff efficiency.” – Jared Weiss (04:01)

• Brunson vs. Shay (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander):

  • Differences in clutch play and how defenses approach each:
    • “You can lure Shay into a trap in the mid range. It’s way harder to do that with Brunson.” – Es (06:17)

2. Karl-Anthony Towns’ Impact

• Offensive and Defensive Effort:

  • Towns aggressively attacked Victor Wembanyama (Wemby), neutralizing his impact early and played strong defense.
    • “Cat did a great job… buried him under the rim over and over. It’s going to take a lot for Victor to figure out an answer to that.” – Es (07:54)

• Game Plan Adjustment:

  • Knicks started with Towns attacking Wemby; Spurs switched up defensive assignments in the second half.

3. Wemby’s Struggles and the Spurs’ Offense

• Difficult Night for Wemby:

  • Second-worst game of his postseason, struggled especially with outside shooting and getting to his spots.
    • “He didn’t get to the carbs… the carbs are all the downhill things.” – Es (09:39)
  • Spurs’ guards struggled initiating and finding Wemby in advantageous spots.

• Offensive Adjustments Needed:

  • Spurs’ transition game stymied, poor organization, and ineffective half-court execution.
  • Up 13 in the third; lead erased when Wemby sat – Knicks seized momentum.

• Shooting Woes:

  • “Second half from three: Wemby one for six, Castle one for four. No one else made a three.” – Es (12:53)

4. Spurs’ Youth, Depth, and Roster Decisions

• Dylan Harper’s Emergence:

  • Rookie set franchise playoff rookie scoring record; best Spur on the floor, but controversially didn’t play down the stretch.
    • “He was their best player tonight… maybe Harper could’ve gotten in there.” – Dave (17:41)
  • Debated whether Harper should get ‘starter minutes’ going forward.
    • “Harper’s not consistent yet. When he’s on, he’s elite… but he’s not like Vassell and Champagnie who will shoot on the move.” – Es (19:09)

• Fatigue and Emotional Capital:

  • Spurs showed “fatigue” in the third, possibly impacted by the emotional high of the previous series.
    • “It’s the emotional capital… looking at the way Wemby celebrated at the end of that Thunder series… it’s going to be hard to come down from that high.” – Es (26:37)

5. Knicks’ Experience and Winning Mentality

• Consistent Belief and Process:

  • Knicks have repeatedly staged double-digit comeback wins in the playoffs, attributed to belief and process over panic.
    • “They just feel comfortable being down… it’s about their belief in the process.” – Jared Weiss (13:30)

• Playoff Historic Run:

  • “12 straight playoff wins for them ties the second most ever… 11 of them are double-digit wins.” – Jared Weiss (37:02)

• Urgency vs. San Antonio’s Youth:

  • Knicks’ veteran desperation and window contrasts with Spurs’ “playing with house money” rebuild timeline.
    • “The Knicks have a desperation that… you cannot replicate.” – Es (36:44)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jalen Brunson’s Clutch Reputation:
  “Jalen Brunson is as efficient, if not more efficient, than Michael Jordan in terms of clutch playoff efficiency.” – Jared Weiss (04:01)

• OG Anunoby’s Pivotal Threes:
  "It was those two threes from OG — that’s what won the game." – Es (12:42)

• On Knicks Crowd in San Antonio:
  “Frost Bank Center… felt like MSG light, bro.” – Es (14:35)

• On Towns’ Composure:
  “He felt his mother’s presence in the arena, and it allowed him to play with joy… 'I've failed so much. We're in the NBA Finals; what do I have to lose?'” – Jared Weiss quoting KAT postgame (29:22)

• On Wemby & Spurs Adjustments:
  “If you start the game with him guarding Hart instead of Cat, I think you’ll have more solutions defensively.” – Jared Weiss (24:51)

• On Fatigue:
  “Middle of the third quarter, they didn’t have the legs.” – Dave (26:22)

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Key Segments and Timestamps

• 02:19 – 03:07: Start of analysis; discussing Knicks crowd and Brunson’s toughness.
• 03:07 – 04:43: Brunson’s injury scares, clutch gene, rebounding success.
• 04:45 – 06:35: How Brunson closes versus other top guards; Knicks’ late-game execution.
• 06:45 – 09:10: Knicks attack Wemby and Cat’s defensive performance.
• 09:10 – 11:58: Wemby’s struggles: shot selection, Spurs’ guards, offensive issues.
• 12:07 – 13:30: Spurs lose control; Knicks seize momentum; shooting splits.
• 13:30 – 15:35: Knicks’ comeback propensity, mentality, and fan energy.
• 17:30 – 21:29: Dylan Harper’s impact and late-game substitution debate.
• 21:56 – 23:35: Spurs’ pace problems, reliance on transition, and offensive flow.
• 24:03 – 25:14: Adjustments: Wemby’s second-half defensive role.
• 26:00 – 26:44: Rotation depth vs. fatigue/freshness.
• 27:32 – 28:10: Brunson’s epic fourth-quarter shot volume and efficiency.
• 29:19 – 29:22: Player of the game selection and KAT’s moving post-game quote.
• 33:12 – 34:50: Hosts share moments “geeked out” on famous former players at Finals.
• 35:20 – 36:44: Wemby’s calm postgame manner, Spurs’ perspective, Knicks’ urgency.
• 37:02 – 37:26: Knicks’ playoff run in historic context.
• 38:03 – 38:15: Both teams are “rootable” — great for the NBA either way.

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Player of the Game

Karl-Anthony Towns:

• “It has to be Karl-Anthony Towns… there was a level of poise, there was a level of confidence that he had, that was so cool.” – Jared Weiss (29:19)

Honorable Mention:

• Josh Hart, for rebounding and “MFer” plays.

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What’s Next? (Looking Ahead to Game 2)

• Spurs need to get Wemby easier, higher-efficiency looks—especially in transition and sealing early on the break.
• Potential adjustment: start Wemby guarding Josh Hart instead of KAT for greater defensive versatility.
• Spurs will look to resolve poor shooting and consider rotation tweaks (more Dylan Harper?).
• Knicks will seek to continue leveraging experience, composure, and critical shot-making.

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Final Thoughts

Both teams show vulnerability and strengths; Knicks displayed veteran composure, clutch shot-making, and poise under pressure, while Spurs’ youth and lack of shooting ultimately undid them in Game 1. The hosts agree the series is likely going long, with no clear villain and plenty of likable storylines for fans and neutrals alike.

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For More

Catch instant reactions after every NBA Finals game and in-depth previews on The Athletic NBA Daily.
Hosts: Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, Esfandiar Baraheni, regular reporting team.
Next Episode: Immediate Game 2 analysis and adjustments.

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Transcript

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[Dave DeFore]

Good morning, good evening from San Antonio, I'm Dave DeFore here with Jared Weiss s Barahene at the scene of the knicks stealing game one from the Spurs. 10595 at home. At home. How about that?

[Jared Weiss]

It was a Knicks type crowd.

[Jared Esperahenny]

It was kind of a Knicks crowd. It was. I mean we knew this was going to happen. But the Knicks travel hard. They're absolute psychos. They were chanting Knicks and Ford during the national anthem. Shout out America. Great patriotism. But listen, we're, we're in the United States Knicks right now. And after this game, like we saw, Jalen Brunson closes out. Spurs don't have a closer. They can Count on in this game. And the rebounding battle was a huge part of it. Yeah, Like, Knicks knew how they wanted to crash. Spurs certainly didn't. And, yeah, we're gonna have a long series.

[Dave DeFore]

I. I think so. And I want to just start right in the first quarter where I thought the series might have been over when Jalen Brunson's leg gets rolled over. Harrison Barnes goes down, rolls over his leg. He goes straight to the locker room. And I look over at S and I'm just like, oh, well, there goes our hope.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

And then he comes back, looks fine, falls down. Luke Cornett steps on his ankle. And I'm thinking to myself, again, wow, Jalen Brunson, are we going to lose him? This guy is a warrior. And I know that we throw that.

[Jared Esperahenny]

He's a Nick.

[Jared Weiss]

Actually, I knew you were going to

[Dave DeFore]

say we throw that term around a lot in sports, but this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. It's game one of the NBA Finals. This guy clearly was hobbled. Couldn't tell. And Jalen Brunson is still the scariest man on the planet in a close basketball game with five minutes left. And he showed it in this game tonight, in spite of being a little bit banged up.

[Jared Weiss]

I. I think he was incredible and everything that they said. There was a stat that came out a couple days ago from Lev Acabis, I believe his last name is that Jalen Brunson is as efficient, if not more efficient than Michael Jordan in terms of clutch playoff efficiency.

[Dave DeFore]

Well, after tonight that he's off that chart. Yeah, it's. It's insane. I mean, you know, look, you. You cover the Spurs. Have you seen anybody be able to do what he did tonight?

[Jared Esperahenny]

I mean, Shay a little bit, but no, I mean, Brunson's what I love about Brunson's game tonight. I mean, besides that he went 12 for 31, which is just hilarious. Was in the crunch time, the way that he organized their spacing was, like, unbelievable. There was this play where they didn't even score off of it, but I think they got the rebound and they got fouled or something like that where he ran. He ran like a sideways pick and roll at half court. He just, like, kept, like, telling guys, like, get sideways, get sideways, and, like, they wouldn't do. He's like, no, no, no, all the way. And just like, he knows exactly what he wants. He really does. This guy's got great boundaries, right? Like, he's like, you got to play my game. And I'm going to set you up the way I want to play. I, you know, Darren Fox did that at the end of the first half, like perfect execution. Saw that coming. The spurs just couldn't quite get to that in crunch time. And Brunson, he just like, he knows how to get either his ISO with space or he knows how to run his pick and roll the way he wants it. And he got it. Now the spurs got to figure out, like, how do we disrupt that.

[Jared Weiss]

Can I ask you a question? What do you think is different between how Brunson operates in the clutch and how. And I can't believe I'm going to do this. But like Shay, what's the differentiator? Because it felt like there was so many more solutions that the spurs had against Shay than they had against Brunson in that fourth quarter.

[Jared Esperahenny]

It's a good question. I mean, that was a whole series. This is the first game. You know, the Knicks at least had some lead up time to prep while the spurs had less. But I think that Brunson's a little tougher because one, you know, he'll shoot it from deep.

[Jared Weiss]

Yep.

[Jared Esperahenny]

So that changes the way your, your defense is spaced. Right. You can't like, you can't blitz him in the same way. I think that you can with Shai. He's a little bit more slippery splitting that gap and I thought he was better at doing that. And also just because of the Knick shooting, like their ability to swing it around and you're kind of screwed if you over, over commit.

[Dave DeFore]

He's not the only guy you have

[Jared Esperahenny]

to worry about that's going to burn you. We saw there was like one early trap that the spurs tried in crunch time and it like blew up in their face that quickly. So you can't, you just, you can't lure Shay. You can lure Shay into a trap in the mid range. It's way harder to do, to do that with Brunson in the roster.

[Jared Weiss]

Just like Brunson in the fourth had four layups.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

Which is, I mean, that, that goes to show you one, how resilient he is as a scorer. And just what happens in the fourth

[Dave DeFore]

quarter with his ability to score.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Okay.

[Dave DeFore]

But part of that was the way that they set Wemby up the entire game. And I actually think that they came out with the right game plan. You know, it was a surprise to me that Wemby was guarding Carl Anthony Towns to start. Yeah. And the Knicks went right at him with Carl Anthony Towns. You know, there was that big challenge that reversed the foul call and made it an offensive foul. But Carl Anthony Towns was incredible in this game. It's one of the best games I've ever seen him play. Yeah, and it was because he was so aggressive, attacking wimy driving to the hoop. I mean, I thought all of the Knicks, there was a point where they did stop looking at the basket, but for the most part, they kept trying to go after him and especially late. And, you know, look, another big play Jalen Brunson made and. And the Knicks team in general was the offensive rebound that he got. Where he gives, you know, gives the ball up and he winds up with a three on the corner. Yeah, that relocation, that's something that Shea was missing in the last series. That makes Jalen so much more dangerous. But what did you think about how the Knicks came out going at. At Victor Wyama and the way that they actually tried to minim minimize his effect on their offense?

[Jared Esperahenny]

I loved it. Like, we always talk about, if your strategy should be to get Wemby off the floor.

[Dave DeFore]

That's right.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Like, the spurs are the best team when they have them, and they struggle when they don't have them. And Kat did a great job. Like Cat, you could just tell that he did so much film on Victor's point of attack defense because Kat, like, knew the exact times of when Victor was going to try to, like, load on balance, and that's when he would hit him with the arm. And he did a good job of, like, hitting away Victor's hands. Like Victor fell off balance. And I thought it was an offensive foul. You rewatch it all. All Carl did was just, like, throw his elbow out to, like, Victor's hands. It's like Victor's center of gravity, which is too high. He has to get lower and wider because he's just not used to a guy. Like, he hasn't faced a guy yet, despite facing Julius Randall, who can, like, actually drive all the way through and get to, like, that step through and still be able to finish. And Carl's buried him under the rim over and over. And it's going to be a. It's going to take a lot for Victor to figure out an answer to that.

[Jared Weiss]

I also thought, you know, defensively, Katt did an incredible job on Wendy at one point in the game. The broadcast had showed that against Wemby one on one or against Cat one on one, Wemby was one of eight. Yeah, I don't know how that ended up playing out throughout the rest of the game, because Wemby was pretty good in that fourth quarter. But the physicality, the size, the combination of those two things, you know, before the series, I was saying it's going to be OGN and Obi de Garden. Yeah, I was dead wrong. Cat was the right and there will

[Dave DeFore]

be some right and they'll have to mix it up. But I also, I think that. And let's just go ahead and get to Wemby because I thought Wemby did not have a good game. This was the second worst game of the playoffs. Yep. Behind that game five in the Western Conference finals. The shot diet was a huge problem to me. Um, I, I don't think that he's at his best when he's shooting these types of threes. Uh, I, I, you know, top of the key 3 just is not a good look for him. What, what did you think about how he was unable to get to his spots?

[Jared Esperahenny]

I mean, he didn't get to the carbs. You know, like that's, that's the fat.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

The protein is the post up. The carbs are all the downhill things that they can get to. And you know, the spurs guards in the second half just did not have a rhythm to try to figure out how to get it to him. There was this one look I noted in the fourth quarter where I think it was Castle did a great job of getting downhill and Victor was like floating in the dunker spot and he just like was kind of too late to flash to the middle and they ended up not getting anything. So there was this disconnect. And I think it's part of what's tough for the spurs early in the series is that they have to like, their guards have to get a feel for how they want to get downhill. Because like, Steph is like, he kind of plays on tilt. Right. Like, he plays, he plays like kind of like those long steps. And so he's kind of like early committed to his attack. So defenses kind of take that away from him early. It's going to take him a while. And then Fox's touch is just not there again in the pain. Like, he missed a couple of like really good looks. That would be bread and butter for him. So they need to establish themselves in the floater range and that's going to make it easier to find Victor in the lobby. And once you get lobster Victor, that's when you have the upper hand.

[Jared Weiss]

We've talked about it a bunch about how the playoffs for Wemby has been one game on, one game off, one game on, one game off. How much of that do you think is the over reliance right now offensively on his three point shot? Because when, like, if you'll remember most games where he starts off knocking down a couple of his threes, he ends up having a dominant performance. But when he's not hitting his threes, it doesn't feel like he can get into that groove offensively.

[Jared Esperahenny]

It's a good point. I mean, you're probably right, but the thing is like Victor has shown over these last two series that he has all the answers. He might not be really proficient at them, sure, but he can move around and find the vulnerability. Mitch Johnson can put him in the right spots. They will get to the right spots eventually. I mean, they couldn't establish his face up game consistently in this game, but sometimes it was great like that and one he had where he just went right through Kat's chest in the fourth border. When that play happened, I started changing my takeaway on the Athletic after I'm like, oh, they're going to come back and win. Because I think that was like a one point game at that point or something like that. I was like, all right, he's figured it out. He's going to keep attacking, they're going to get there. And it just didn't happen because the Knicks started taking away those types of catches for him. He couldn't find it. So I think he'll be able to kind of continue to go through that wheel of like, what are all my different options? And he'll get there. He'll be okay.

[Dave DeFore]

The spurs lost the chance to seal this game. They were up 13. Yeah, Wemby goes to the bench and

[Jared Weiss]

the Knicks do, man, full advantage of it.

[Dave DeFore]

They cut into that lead and it didn't take long at all. And you know, in the post game, Victor Wignana talked about the, the Knicks stealing the momentum from them and them not being able to wrestle it back. Is that youth? Because we've seen them be able to do this against the Thunder like in previous series, but the Knicks just felt like they were, they were able to answer every, every single turn and, and obviously they took the lead and were able to then pull away at the end. I mean, what would you credit that to? You think that's, that's the Knicks experience? Is it just shot making a little shots?

[Jared Esperahenny]

It's shooting. Yeah, it was that. It was those two threes from OG like that's what's won the game. And the spurs had.

[Dave DeFore]

He hit that one in the corner right over Wendy, which nobody really Even pulls that anymore.

[Jared Esperahenny]

So second half from three. Wemby one for six, Castle one for four. No one else made it three. Well, champagne was amazing in the first half and then I.

[Dave DeFore]

He missed the rim on the second half shot.

[Jared Esperahenny]

So like that's, that's what we talked about in these previews was like, the Knicks shooting is going to be persistent and it's going to be better. And how do the spurs get into transition more and execute in transition? And they didn't tonight. Like, they just like their organization and transition was not good. They had a few plays where they had fast breaks and then they had to back out of it and they didn't really get what they needed. They didn't get quick succession, they didn't get momentum. And then OG comes down and clack, clack, boom, game split. That's how it happens against the Knicks.

[Jared Weiss]

I, I will say from a Knicks perspective, I mean, this is now the fifth time in the last two postseasons where they've come back from double digits. You think of those two self ones last year, the crazy one against the Cavs and now this one. They have a propensity. They just feel comfortable being down. And I, you know, Mike Brown was talking about this and Jalen Brunson was talking about this. It is about their belief in the process. And so many teams are process oriented.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Right.

[Jared Weiss]

But the fact that they're able to generate good shots pretty much consistently, especially against this spurs defense, that's why they have a chance in this series. It's getting and generating good looks consistently.

[Dave DeFore]

Well, even early on, it felt like the Knicks were winning the game early, when they weren't. Yeah, yeah, Right. Just. It just felt like they were more definitely part of it. Right. Like it was so loud in here every time.

[Jared Weiss]

I know I'm teasing that, but at the same time, it was just bizarre to me how loud that next crowd was.

[Jared Esperahenny]

The Knicks fans are amazing. Like, I covered Dawson for a long time. It's like every time the Knicks would come to town, it was epic.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Like, it was, it was like a battle in the stands. And listen, the Thunder fans, the Thunder home court is unbelievable. Like one of the best in the sport. I love it. But they did not travel with this type of noise and intensity. It was not like this. And Frostbank center, whatever it's called, this felt like MSG light, bro. Like during those runs I was like, God damn right.

[Dave DeFore]

Go Spurs, Go versus Go Nick's. Yeah, let's go. Yeah. Back and forth.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah. The verbiage battle. Yeah. My God, the go versus let's.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

And then, you know, I don't know how it looked on the broadcast, but sitting here, the Knicks jerseys peppered in within the fiesta colors around the arena really stood out. I mean, that was like a, it was a huge. I thought that the Knicks really fed off of that. Especially late as the spurs started to kind of sputter and get tired down the stretch. It just looked like the Knicks were more ready. I mean, maybe this is the rest that they've gotten over the course of the playoffs and especially ahead of this series, but they just seem to have more life at the end of the game.

[Jared Esperahenny]

And what I love about Knicks fans is they celebrate like the players on the court, like they're doing ice in the veins. They're going crazy. Like, I feel like Nick, like New Yorkers are field on schadenfreude. So they come into your house, they see you fumble, and they're like, they get energy. It's like, it's like, it's like a force field coming into them. It's great.

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[Dave DeFore]

Let's. Let's talk about Dylan Harper, Rookie, first NBA Finals game. He now owns the rookie record for most points scored in.

[Jared Weiss]

For the Spurs.

[Dave DeFore]

For the Spurs, Yes. In a. In a postseason.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yep.

[Dave DeFore]

In this game. Comes off the bench. And he was their best player, in my opinion tonight. And we've talked about this over the course of this playoffs, his poise, his ability to just stop and make a decision instead of feeling rushed and getting sped up. And I found it a little bit odd that he wasn't able to get in the game down the stretch. He was their best player. And, you know, look, de' Aaron Fox having a tough shooting night. Obviously, you can't pinch de' Aaron Fox champagne in the second half. Just couldn't hit the rim. I feel like, you know, maybe Harper could have gotten in there. Do you feel like they just need to play Harper more? 28 minutes in this game? I mean, do they. Does he need to just get starter minutes?

[Jared Weiss]

Probably should have closed, but I'll. I'm curious again.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, you see, you go.

[Dave DeFore]

No, no, no. I want to hear from.

[Jared Weiss]

Hear from you. Because, I mean, like, expert. You see, it was Fox at the end of that game who was playing, and obviously Fox struggled in this one. He's been pivotal in certain moments. He had a huge shot in game seven. But, like, the idea for, I think for most fans is that Harper should have been in his place in that fourth quarter. What do you think about it?

[Jared Esperahenny]

I think that's the adjustment we'll probably start seeing. And I think that happened in the OKC series where I think Mitch closed with all three of them out there in. Did he do it in game seven? Yeah, I think, yeah. So Harper. Harper's not consistent yet. When he's on, he's elite and he. He's a, like, he's a willing, quick catch and shooter.

[Jared Weiss]

Right.

[Jared Esperahenny]

But he's not like Vasel and Champagne who will shoot on the move. They'll shoot over anybody. Harper takes a comfortable catch and shoot three when it comes to him. And it's different. Usually at the end of the game, you prioritize having the shooters out there that, you know, will shoot over. You know, Carl Town's flying out. Right. So that's, I think, part of the factor. And then Fox's decision making is just so important. We just, we saw. There's a bunch of times in this game where Fox just had a good feel of how to. How to tilt the floor. Right. And he knew what stuff to get them into. And that's what a veteran point guard does. Hard. Harper doesn't have that ability yet. Harper's just a really, really good scorer. He's a great scorer in space. He's already a great score in space at 20. So it's hard, it's hard to decide to take Fox out of there when this. He's the one guy on this team that can make a good decision in crunch time. And so, you know, tonight they have better shooting luck. Maybe they win the game because Fox is pulling the right strings. I don't know. But I do think it's. It's really hard not to close with Harper.

[Dave DeFore]

I don't.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Harper's cook.

[Jared Weiss]

I don't think dear.

[Dave DeFore]

And Fox is the guy that should have sat. I. I do think that he's very important.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Right.

[Dave DeFore]

And I, I also think that having him in the mix when the ball finds him and he has a lane to drive, like, that's what I want. You know, I want Fox out there because he does pressure to the defense. But it, to me, it's. It's. You got to find a way. And I'm not sure where those minutes come from, but you have to find a way for more Dylan Harper. If. If you want to hang with the Knicks, I mean, you just got to have a guy who can actually score.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, it might be just who. Whomever between F and champagne is not high. Or maybe it's Fox. I mean, listen, like, Fox just is not hitting his shots reliable, right? His touch is just so off right now. His speed is actually not bad. Like, that's the irony is like, I know the ankle is a big problem for him, but his like, movement I don't think is that bad. He's just like, his touch is gone, right? He's just like. He's doing his little turnarounds, his little pull ups. And I, I could see it because I was kind of like opposite end behind the hoop from where they were shooting. And as soon as it came off his hand, you could see the direction was a little bit wrong. So it's almost like the speed at which he turns is like he's not getting his hips all the way around properly or he can't like settle into his foot to push off of it. I don't know what it is. It seems like the issue is subtle. Even if maybe the injury is like really tough, but it's like subtle enough that he's shooting. What did he shoot tonight? Like one for something or two for something. Yeah, three for 13. Yeah, three for 13 is just not good enough. He's too good of a player to shoot. Shoot that.

[Jared Weiss]

Partly.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

I mean, it was a very physical game where there were a lot of missed shots, especially in that first half. And you, you basically saw, I think, the speed of San Antonio. You mentioned this last series, but when it's a lot of free throws and, and for San Antonio tonight, it was, you know, 13 for WEMBY. Yeah, that kind of takes them out of the game. They want to play fast, they want to play free. And I, I just. The Knicks are so much better at

[Dave DeFore]

playing slowest with them, though. Yeah, they, the Knicks can play at any pace. And I don't think the spurs can play slow yet, especially in a half court. And we saw that when their offense started to sputter in the third quarter. I mean, I said this to you, you know, like, they're not getting into stuff fast enough. They keep, they're slowing the ball up top. And Wemby, I didn't think was. Was doing a good job at getting to his spots. I mean, they did have one play where they got him a post up on a pass from the corner, but I would like to have seen that maybe five or six times, you know, instead of just the one time that we saw it. Some of this is going to be play better, hit your shots. That's going to be the difference if they win the game. But the, the Knicks didn't really shoot the ball all that well.

[Jared Esperahenny]

You know, I mean, both teams felt like, like terrible shooting. This is like, this was, this is really like who lost the game.

[Dave DeFore]

Exactly.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Because nobody hit any shots.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah. Let's think ahead a little bit. Okay. To, to game two?

[Jared Esperahenny]

Sure, why not?

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, it's okay. It's live.

[Jared Esperahenny]

We're totally, we're totally not doing a show right now. Don't worry. I could have gone that way, but no, that'd be too much.

[Jared Weiss]

That's funny. Now they're in.

[Jared Esperahenny]

That's probably the president. I have no idea who that was.

[Dave DeFore]

No.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Adam Silver in a wig. I don't know.

[Dave DeFore]

So. Okay, let's think ahead. Okay. Game two. What can the spurs do differently so that Wemby gets easier looks at the basket? I mean, the defense. Look, he still had an effect on the defense and we can get to that. But how do they just make it easier for him to shoot to score?

[Jared Esperahenny]

I mean, look like I want to sound smart so that people think. I'm sorry, smart. I'm not that Smart. Like it's. You just get out and transition early. Like, okay, there were some plays where he would contest and he should be leaking out.

[Dave DeFore]

Right.

[Jared Esperahenny]

But instead he kind of watched and it's like, bro, just go. Just go. And then turn around and sprint back into it if you need to. And you know what? If you let your team have the disadvantage, whatever, fine. Get two points on the other end. Because if Wenby has an early seal on a fast break, there's two points. Two points or it's a foul. Like there's. I. He's probably missed in those scenarios like twice ever. So just like accept that they're probably going to get the points and then do it on the other end. Whatever.

[Dave DeFore]

He was also super involved on the defensive end. All like in actions.

[Jared Weiss]

Well, I was going to say in the second half, yeah, he did a much. I mean, they switched. So in the first half it was Carl Anthony Towns, he was guarding mostly. And then the second half they flipped to having him guard Josh Hart and that really opened up things for him defensively to be like, hey, I'm going to camp out in the paint. Let Josh Hart. Obviously Josh Hart flipped the game with his rebounding, which was massive.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Which he does every game.

[Jared Weiss]

Which he does every game, every time. Listen, there is something to being an MFer and Josh Hart has that. Like, he really understands how to impact a game despite missing his shots. What was he tonight?

[Dave DeFore]

Like, one of six. Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Across the board and had a good game. Like he's. I love John.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah, he's one of five.

[Dave DeFore]

Excuse me, 15 rebounds. Also had six assists. I mean, he had that huge rebound down the fourth quarter. Yeah, just like he, this is why he. You just can't take him out of the lineup.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah, but to the point about Wemby, it's like if you start the game with him guarding Hart instead of him guarding Cat, I think you'll have more solutions. Defensively, I think the Knicks won't be able to put you in rotation a little bit more and then you have that success. Defensively, you force turnovers, you get out in transition. There's a trickle down effect to your point of what they're going to be able to get.

[Jared Esperahenny]

That's.

[Jared Weiss]

That's the solution for the Spurs. As simple as that.

[Jared Esperahenny]

I do think it's mostly just absolutely horrendous shooting in the second half.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, it was bad.

[Jared Esperahenny]

It was just like comically bad. And they've, they've. I mean, they're not going to shoot 28% from three series. They're going to shoot 34% probably. And that's good enough.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, this. I think the spurs also need Jose Alvarado to continue to bark at Julius Champion. And it's just like, like that little rivalry that we watched in the first half when they, you know, they kind of went back and forth trading shots. Yeah, it did seem to fire him up. Champagne. I mean, he was like very locked in. I thought on those corner shots, they just need that.

[Jared Weiss]

Speaking of the Wings, it felt like Mitch Johnson was searching a little bit. Like Harrison Barnes plays 14 minutes. Keldon Johnson, Kelly Johnson, he had a rough, rough stretch and kind of fell out of the rotation.

[Dave DeFore]

I think we saw Mitch Johnson, he said, hey, we got to get a veteran in there because at least I know he won't go make mistakes.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, yeah. I'm sure we'll see more Carter, Brian next game. You know, like they always kind of ebb and flow between. That's three of them. And what's funny is I noted this during the game. Teams are playing 10 man rotations in the finals. I remember when it was like an eight man rotation.

[Jared Weiss]

Bizarre to see you have to.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Because guys get burned out.

[Dave DeFore]

Because I mean, I mean in this game, I thought the spurs started running out of gas in the middle of the third quarter. And you know, we've seen this now. They played a couple of long series. That, that series against the Thunder really took a lot of gas out of them. But middle of the third quarter they didn't have the legs.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

And listen, I'm not surprised. Like someone came to me before the game. They were like, I'm not worried about the physical capital they've expended. It's the emotional capital. It was like looking at the way Wemby celebrated at the end of that series and it's like it won't be even said it at media day yesterday. It's like it's going to be hard to come down from that high. Yes. To get back to reality. And it's like the game, it was not a bad loss. It's just like they had a terrible shooting day and they're. Their execution was okay. It wasn't that good. So they're not that far behind and like urgency will build back up. And now they have like, they know they don't want to marinate in an O2 hole going back to New York for three days. Well, I mean they're not coming back from that. So they, they're going to have that.

[Jared Weiss]

I think this confirms to everybody who was maybe Thinking this is going to be a quick series. That it won't be that it will not be a quick series. It's going six, it's going seven. It might be the Knicks one day, it might be the spurs another day. And truthfully, if you're the spurs right now, you say we've, we've played so much better in these playoffs than we've saw we saw here in game one. We know what. We can get to know what the expectation is. And I think both sides can say that. I don't think the Knicks played a particularly great game either. But they just, to your point, marginal stuff. Right. The final moments of the game. Jalen Brunson being able to score, Josh Hart rebounds, OGN and OB threes. It's those little things that make the difference between 10 and 0 1.

[Dave DeFore]

Mitch Johnson even said this after the game. Jalen Brunson had 31 shots. Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

To get 31. I mean 12 or 31. Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

That's actually not bad.

[Jared Weiss]

He was 5 of 18 heading into the fourth quarter.

[Dave DeFore]

And the problem is those seven makes in the fourth.

[Jared Weiss]

Right.

[Dave DeFore]

It's about the timing on that. I mean, and, but he goes to this other level and I mean he's just been that way, which we talked about. 13 shots in the fourth quarter.

[Jared Weiss]

Yes.

[Jared Esperahenny]

That's crazy. 13 shots and like a lot of them were on Wemby. Yes.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, he had more.

[Dave DeFore]

And, and I actually, I liked the possessions where Brunson was able to ISO on Wemby or the. I think it was like two.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah. A couple of them in the fourth quarter.

[Dave DeFore]

I, I thought that Shea, Gil Alexander doing that in the last series was maybe a start. Smart strategy. I wonder if we don't see some, some more of that if they're having success there.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

Pulls him away from the basket. Allows your. Your excellent offensive rebounding to really have a chance with no Wemby out there because the rest of the spurs comparatively are smaller than the Knicks. I mean, Josh Hart plays like a seven footer.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

On the glass.

[Jared Weiss]

So I want to, I want to do something a little bit different here. Can we give out a player of the game for the finals? Oh, I will switch up segues.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, I see you.

[Jared Weiss]

Anyways, player of the game. You guys want to do it?

[Jared Esperahenny]

Sure.

[Jared Weiss]

Who's your player of the game? Our guests should go first.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Jared, not you go first,

[Jared Weiss]

man. It has to be Carl Anthony Town.

[Dave DeFore]

I think so.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

I was. I haven't brought this up yet, but he had an excellent quote post game. Yeah. About how he felt his mother's presence in the. In the. Like in the arena, and it allowed him to play with joy. He said he felt like a kid again, and I thought that was very cool because he felt so calm in the game. We've always seen Kat be a little bit flustered, like, have these moments where if an offensive foul happens, he's going to complain. He didn't. I didn't see any of that today. And there was a level of poise, there was a level of confidence that he had that was so cool to me, where it's like, I've. I've done so much. I've failed so much. We're in the NBA Finals. What do I have to lose? And I think that's the very.

[Dave DeFore]

It was awesome.

[Jared Weiss]

And he played great. He was the best player today.

[Jared Esperahenny]

You know, one thing I. You're right, by the way. That's the answer. Just honorable mention of Josh Hart for his rebounding. And then I guess, how about Rick

[Dave DeFore]

Brunson for getting the next to stop complaining to the referee, according to Mike Brown, which seems to have worked for them. Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, absolutely. And also to selfie kid for not actually touching anybody, which. That kid should go to hell. I hate. I hate.

[Dave DeFore]

Okay. I frick.

[Jared Esperahenny]

I'm gonna say freaking hate cloud chasers so goddamn much.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Even though what we do for children is a little cloudy.

[Jared Weiss]

Somebody should have told him that, like, he wasn't getting paid off of Polymarket.

[Dave DeFore]

So this guy runs onto the court, and, you know, when it happens, I don't think anyone realized what was going on. He was wearing, like, all black. He kind of looked like.

[Jared Weiss]

I thought it was a spur. I really thought it was a surround.

[Dave DeFore]

Right. Or a security guy or something. And I. I thought there was a foul called before I even realized what was happening. And the funny part of that was, in a post game, Wimy was talking

[Jared Esperahenny]

about it because he.

[Dave DeFore]

He. They asked him. He's like, I didn't really know how to react. And he smiled.

[Jared Esperahenny]

He was just kind of like.

[Dave DeFore]

He smiles in the.

[Jared Weiss]

In the.

[Dave DeFore]

The selfie.

[Jared Weiss]

I do want to see the selfie.

[Dave DeFore]

No, I don't think.

[Jared Weiss]

I'm kind of curious.

[Dave DeFore]

I don't think we can. I mean, I don't know. Apparently that he was on the broadcast quite a bit and.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Oh, was he?

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah. Okay.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah. You can't. You can't show it. You know, it's like, by rule, you. You let it happen because it purges other people. Now in the day of polymarketing, like, you got to cut that stuff off. Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

You know, the number of people that immediately said, oh, this is a gambling thing was shocking to me because it didn't even occur to me that this is the thing.

[Jared Weiss]

It was the first thing I thought of that's. It was like, this is. He bet on this and he's definitely trying to get paid off of this.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Society is crumbling. Thank God we have the athletic NBA daily.

[Dave DeFore]

That's right.

[Jared Weiss]

We are the.

[Dave DeFore]

We're here. Of societal decay. The NPA Daily. That's a great ringing endorsement here for sure.

[Jared Esperahenny]

I had an X and O thing on Cat. Should I even still say it? Yeah. One thing, I really like this matchup for Cat because, you know, when we've looked at Cat's defensive issues over the years, it's mostly like got like good pull up artists that can twist him around and they can get by him or they can pull up on him. And the spurs don't have that. They don't have a pull up artist. Fox is the only one generally that does that. Harper has a little bit of that to his game, but he's not quite there yet. But like, it's really. It's usually Fox that can do it and Fox doesn't have that right now. But like Victoria, if he's going to get by you, it's going to be a long thing where he's just going to shake and raise right over you. So Kat's footwork issues that he's had in the past aren't really exposed that much in the series.

[Jared Weiss]

He can play and drop much more

[Jared Esperahenny]

and his power and length was super effective on Wemby because he's huge. He's strong and he moves really well. And like, he might make mistakes with like, where his hips are pointing at point of attack, but he has really good feet. He moves very nimbly. So he's actually like a good fit defensively in the series that they didn't even need Mitch Robinson that much. Robinson had some good moments, but, like, they didn't need him that much. Carl really held it down for him.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

One more question, fun one before we

[Jared Esperahenny]

get out of here.

[Dave DeFore]

All right. Okay. It's the Knicks. It's the Spurs. All these legends in the house. Who was the former player that you saw that you geeked out the most about?

[Jared Esperahenny]

Wow.

[Dave DeFore]

They were all over the place. And by the way, I'm going to exclude my buddy Malik Rose from this because, like, I saw him and if he listens, Malik, you know, I texted you before the game.

[Jared Esperahenny]

I Have a funny answer for this. It's Charles Barkley. And I don't. I actually don't like inside, like just because of all they've done to like damage the game. Even though they are fun. I do like the people.

[Jared Weiss]

The opposite of the athletic NBA there.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah. But like though. With lots of good people there. But he looked really good. Like all those GLP1 commercial. Oh my God. He actually looked great. I was really surprised how good he looks. He looked like a tall Duke to four, basically.

[Dave DeFore]

You know what's funny?

[Jared Esperahenny]

When I.

[Jared Weiss]

He does GLP1 commercials. I didn't know.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, he does Canada. The first time I shaved my head because I had these eyebrows, my mom said, wow, you look like Charles Barkley.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Really?

[Dave DeFore]

Yes. So funny.

[Jared Esperahenny]

You're the round man of rebounds.

[Dave DeFore]

For me. It was Patrick Eing.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Sure.

[Jared Weiss]

Cool.

[Dave DeFore]

I, yeah. Geeked out a little bit at Patrick Healing. I. I don't. It's funny because I feel like we see him all the time. Obviously he was coaching and. But seeing him in person was, you know, took me back to being a kid.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

A little bit.

[Jared Weiss]

I've seen Clyde Frazier now like six times.

[Dave DeFore]

Do you see that jacket he had on? Look. I don't know. Look it up, guys.

[Jared Weiss]

Jacket that he looked like a peacock. Yeah, it was you. I mean, you'll see it, but it's just. It was beautiful. And where does he even find that jacket? But every time I see him, he's like the kindest dude in the world. He's always interacting with people. If a fan comes to talk to him, he's like, hey, you know, like, he just. He has a 70s vibe to him that is. Is enigmatic to his style. I love him. I love Clyde Frazier. He's so freaking cool as a person. So. Yeah, that's. That's the guy I always geek out about.

[Dave DeFore]

And this was a great day. Anything. As we. As we wrap up, I'm gonna close out.

[Jared Weiss]

Are you writing anything on this?

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, yeah, I'm writing the. What the hell happened to the spurs in the fourth quarter? So I honestly, I'm gonna just re. Listen to the show because there's a lot of good stuff there. You had a lot of good nuggets in there too. But I guess I'm. I'm gonna do mostly X and O focus. I think it's too early for thematic stuff at this point. Yeah, I've already done so much thematic stuff over the past series. It's whatever. I got some stuff out of Victor in his post game presser about like, he was like, I'm not really. Like, I'm not worried.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

This is.

[Dave DeFore]

I did actually, that, that is an interesting point because I did think that he looked pretty comfortable. Yeah. After a loss. And I've seen him after losses where he didn't. Yeah. Obviously the big Game 5 let down where, you know, you no. Showed the media after the game.

[Jared Weiss]

Well, he said he'd figure it out. Right. That's what the quote that I saw

[Dave DeFore]

was like, I'll figure it out.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

You know, he did look crazy comfortable, though.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Like, I was like, do you. You know you lost the NBA Finals game just now. Right. So either the spurs are going to get swept or they're fine. It's like one or the other. Based on that response. Yeah, I'm assuming they're fine. I'm assuming he'll be okay.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah. He did not look like he was. And not to say he wasn't taking the loss stuff, but he definitely seemed like they had internally maybe figured something out even though they lost. Whether that's. That we can hang with the Knicks. You know, they're young teams still and this Knicks team is not. This is a bunch of guys who. They win.

[Jared Weiss]

They also need to win now. So that's, there's like that, that is an element to how crazy the Knicks are.

[Jared Esperahenny]

That's.

[Dave DeFore]

That's got it.

[Jared Esperahenny]

I don't care how well coached the spurs are. I don't care how well they've done. There's just no way you can replicate the feeling of this is our chance.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Right. Like, the Knicks know they don't like there. There's some fortune to the fact that they got there. But like, they, they're. They've hit a stride that they've never hit before. Right. They're playing out of their minds right now. And it's a lot of older guys. And there's going to be financial things. The spurs are like, we're. Whatever. We're going to extend.

[Dave DeFore]

They have a. Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

So like, they know this isn't their last chance and they know they're going to get better from here. The Knicks. The Knicks have a desperation that cannot, no matter how much you try, you cannot replicate that. And that's part of why I thought this was going to go seven in the first place.

[Jared Weiss]

They have the second highest payroll in the NBA. There are expectations for the Knicks. There should be no surprise that they are here also. 12 straight playoff wins for them ties the second most ever. The warriors have the most at 15. I don't know which warriors then it was.

[Dave DeFore]

But also 1172.

[Jared Weiss]

Eleven of them are double digit wins.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

Which is. They are literally having one of the best playoff runs.

[Dave DeFore]

It's a historic run. And if they sweep the Spurs. Well, let's.

[Jared Esperahenny]

I know a lot of us are

[Dave DeFore]

going to look silly, but.

[Jared Esperahenny]

And one thing I was like, I did like so many TV shows where I was like, the, the jump in competition is going to be so drastic.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah. And I mean, maybe because the spurs shot like crap, but like, it's amazing that the Knicks beat the spurs with the way the spurs been playing and who they've had to play. Like this Knicks team is just like, I, I'm not rooting for anyone in those series. Like conference first. Honestly, it'd be great if I get to cover a parade. Like, that'd be nice. But like, how could you not root for the Knicks in this? They're so likable. They're so likable. And the story is so cool and so like, I mean, I'm, listen, I'm rooting for both teams.

[Jared Weiss]

Both teams are very rootable. Is rootable the right word there?

[Jared Esperahenny]

Yeah, yeah. There's really no villain in the series. Like both teams are super lovable and if either team wins, it's going to be wonderful for, for the NBA. Yeah. Both teams deserve it. Like, they really do.

[Dave DeFore]

All right. It's the two. It's the two most fun teams to watch and this is awesome. Anyway, that's going to do it for the show. Thank you guys. If you were on the stream for hanging out with us. I know it's late. We're going to be doing these after every finals game and then we're going to have previews to follow. So stick with us, like subscribe all of that stuff. Leave us a five star review and if you've got a TV show, I don't know if you heard, but Jared's done a ton of TV here, so get him on your show. Yes, he's really good for Jared Weiss. Esperahenny. Hey, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily from the Finals. Thanks for waking up with us.

[Jared Weiss]

If you're listening to this, you're ready. Ready to join the Industrial Intelligence generation.

[Jared Esperahenny]

A generation defined not by age, but by a shared mindset to connect teams, accelerate efficiency and drive innovation. Using the power of Aviva software to

[Jared Weiss]

reshape industries, turning real time insights into real world growth.

[Jared Esperahenny]

Discover our [e-mail].

[Jared Weiss]

join Generation I.

[Ben Green]

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