Spurs Give Christmas Gifts To Knicks in the Paint in Holiday Heartbreaker

Three statistics are all you need to know about how the San Antonio Spurs lost their Yuletide feature at Madison Square Garden Wednesday afternoon to the New York Knicks.

Dec 25, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa (5) blocks a shot taken by San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

When dissecting the San Antonio Spurs' 117-114 loss to the New York Knicks on Christmas Day, the devil is really in the details. Looking at the overall team statistics, one can tell exactly where the issues were found.

In fact, there were three key areas.

First, the Spurs committed 15 turnovers to only five for the Knicks. That puts the Knicks potent offense into transmission on ten more possessions, which equated to 20 total points.

Jeremy Sochan led the Spurs with five turnovers. As brilliant as Victor Wembanyama was, with his 42 points and 18 rebounds, he turned the ball over four times. Devin Vassell also had four turnovers for the Spurs.

READ MORE: Spurs Fall Short to Knicks, Wembanyama Scores 42

Second, despite Wembanyama playing a great game, the Knicks outscored the Spurs 58-50 in the paint, which meant more offensive rebounds for the Knicks and being able to convert more often on second chance points.

San Antonio had a chance to pull the game out, but gave up 17 offensive rebounds and was unable to get its hands on the ball at the end of the game.

Dec 25, 2024; New York, New York, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) grabs a rebound in the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Wembanyama cannot grab every rebound. He has to get some assistance on the defensive glass. Sochan had seven defensive rebounds to assist the Spurs. Chris Paul had six defensive rebounds, but it was all the Spurs could muster.

Harrison Barnes played 17 minutes at the small forward position, but did not grab one defensive rebound the entire game. Additionally, the Knicks had 19 second chance points to only 13 for the Spurs.

The Spurs remain in New York to tangle with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday evening in a contest they hope can put them back on track. Tipoff from Barclays Center is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CST.

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