Chris Mannix’s NBA Finals Notes: Three Questions That Could Decide Knicks-Spurs Game 2

News, notes and observations ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals …

How will Wemby respond?

Victor Wembanyama has maintained a close relationship with Gregg Popovich, so it was no surprise for Wemby to see a text from Popovich pop up on his phone after San Antonio’s Game 1 defeat. Wembanyama didn’t reveal the details of the message, though he did offer up the thrust. “It was that I’ve been bad,” said Wembanyama, “and [that] I’m better than this.”

Wembanyama’s struggles—if you want to call a 26-point, 12-rebound game that—were probably a mix of a few things. There’s fatigue: Wembanyama averaged 37.7 minutes per game in a grueling conference finals. And there was the physicality of the Knicks, who eschewed using more nimble smaller defenders on Wembanyama in favor of the sturdiness of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. The result was a player who spent more time on the perimeter (2 of 9 from three-point range) than in the paint.

The Spurs will adjust in Game 2, and there are plenty of ways to take advantage of an opponent going big. But Wembanyama will have to tap into another energy source. As eye-catching as it is to watch a 7'4" center pull up from three-point range, San Antonio needs Wembanyama playing more in the paint. Expect the Spurs to put Wemby in more positions to get downhill, where his athleticism is an advantage against Towns and Robinson.

“We don’t need to do anything incredible,” said Wembanyama. “We need to approach the game with a better mental state. We just need to play our game. We just need to be normal … that means trusting each other, trusting the basketball gods, trusting the game plan, executing and not relying on talent so much to make shots or to save the day. We’ve been playing a certain way all season. We’ve been successful this way. There’s no reason to change the day the Finals start.”

The Spurs have a Fox problem

De’Aaron Fox didn’t waste words when asked to diagnose his problems in Game 1. “I’ve got to make shots,” Fox said. Indeed, Fox’s stat line was forgettable: Seven points on 3-of-13 shooting, with five assists and three turnovers. He missed several point-blank shots and went scoreless during an 11-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. Said Fox, “At the end of the day, got to put the ball in the basket.”

San Antonio wouldn’t be here without Fox, whose 15-point, five-assist effort in Game 7 of the conference finals helped the Spurs pull out a win. There’s also the matter of the high ankle sprain Fox is dealing with. Still, Mitch Johnson will have to monitor Fox closely. Dylan Harper had 16 points and eight rebounds in Game 1, and while it’s risky to trust too many minutes to a 20-year-old rookie, if Fox gets off to a sluggish start, Johnson may need to slash his All-Star guard’s minutes.

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson needed 31 shots to score 30 points in Game 1. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Jalen Brunson eyes improvement

Lost in the brilliance of Jalen Brunson’s fourth quarter on Wednesday (13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, zero turnovers) was that, statistically, Brunson didn’t have a great game. He needed 31 shots to get his 30 and connected on just two of his nine three-point attempts, inefficiencies that the Spurs, if they can control Brunson’s fourth-quarter outbursts, can largely live with.

As the Spurs will adjust, so will Brunson. Overall Brunson was happy with his shot profile. “Saw a lot of different things,” Brunson said. “I thought I shot some shots that I normally make. Had a couple bad ones, as well.” He did his usual matchup hunting, steering toward isolations with Devin Vassell and away from Harper and Stephon Castle. And while Brunson expects to see different coverages from San Antonio, all he says he can focus on is himself.

“I think [a lesson is] being able to control what I can control,” Brunson said. “You never really know what’s going to happen throughout a game. It’s all about how can you be better the next possession, how can you find a way to make an impact when things aren’t going well. Controlling what you can control I think is a big thing.”

Adam Silver wants answers

Adam Silver didn’t offer any firm update on when punishment, if any, will be leveled on the Clippers for alleged cap circumvention. The NBA’s monthslong investigation, being spearheaded by an outside law firm, is still working through its process. The scandal continues to be in the news—Pablo Torre, the investigative journalist who broke it, was recently awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his work—and for the first time Silver sounded like a man anxious to get it over with. “My instruction to them is, you know, we can’t be investigating forever and at some point we have to wrap it up,” said Silver. “But at the same time, I think the most important thing is we get it right.”

Added Silver, “I certainly hear and read things all the time about the perception of what really happened or didn’t happen here, and I think my only reaction is I wouldn’t be doing my job if ultimately I issued a determination based on perception. My job is to follow the facts. What essentially happens here is that the factual report, together with findings, will be made by this independent firm. That’s presented to me. It’s then, ultimately, my role to determine what the appropriate discipline, if any, should be meted out based on their findings.

“So sort of two independent processes there, and that’s what’s happening right now. I don’t have a specific timeline on when they will be completed. I think it’s clear they are far along. I think those reports are—reading all the time from people who are being interviewed by them, and I think they understand that you could keep going on and on, but I think we are close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up, because you also need finality. The team has to understand what situation they are going to be operating under, and so do the other 29 teams. So that’s where things currently stand.”

More NBA Finals From Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.

Add us as a preferred source on Google