Brunson Is Making Clutch Plays But Is Not Taking Over

What the Spurs did last night, how duplicable is it?

Like how likely do you think it is that San Antonio is going to be able to go out and do that again, because as Encouraging as it was to win game 3.

If they don't win game 4.

They're basically right back in the same type of situation.

You've got to, it's, it's almost worse, honestly, if they go 1-1 because then you've got to go back to San Antonio and everyone with a New York driver's license is going to be flying down to Texas and spending whatever amount of money you got to spend to get into Frostbank Center for Game 5 on Saturday night.

What did you feel?

It was a little hard for me to eyeball.

What did you feel like the New York presence was at those games?

Oh, it was 20%.

You thought so.

Yeah, it was more like 1012, but I could have been just missing people.

No, I think it was 20%.

It was, it was a few 1000 people.

I thought they did a good job of, of having as much of a San Antonio home crowd as possible, which wasn't true for some of the gleams in Cleveland, etc.

down 3-1.

There's gonna be a lot more fans inclined to sell their tickets off.

Absolutely.

So I think you'd get close to 50% if for game 5, if not more.

Yeah.

And also like you just have a greater sense of the hole that you're in, and there is some human nature .

Of, OK, we're gonna keep fighting till the very end, but if you know that very end is gonna result in your death, then it's a little bit different.

As I said, the Spurs got off the plane here having to win 4 of the next 5.

They've won 1.

It is a very hard thing to do, so.

Obviously, they will give themselves a better shot if they can win game 4 and feel as if the slate is a little bit more even, but you've now expended the energy of winning those 2 games.

Maybe it's because you found something and you can run the table all the way through.

That's again what the Bucks did.

But I, I just think that the road is difficult and for the Spurs to win game 4, which is your question, they have to do everything right.

Everything they did in the second half of that game, they had to do, they have to do everything they did in the 1st quarter of that game, they have to do.

They're capable of it.

We watched it.

They have to do all of those things again.

They can't do those stupid 3s that we're talking about when they could actually penetrate and make a better play out of it.

They've got to play with their heads.

They can't commit stupid fouls.

And then the Knicks have to be a little off because we have to acknowledge what the Knicks told us today, which is they don't feel they played their best game, and I agree with them.

The early foul trouble in the second half.

Um, you know, some of the shots that normally go in for them didn't go in.

Jalen Brunson, who, you know, as hard as, as is as hard on himself as anybody in this league is, took it upon his shoulders this afternoon, and I don't think it was his fault, but I understand that he is going to walk into that building trying to be Superman in Game 4, and we've seen him be Superman.

He can pull that off if he wants to.

So, I, I just, I think that they, I still think the road for the Spurs is, is very, very high, tall.

Uphill, whatever you wanna call it, long and winding, but they're capable of it.

I don't think there's any question they are because Victor Wimanyama is like nothing we've ever seen, and Steph Cassel, to your point, and Dylan Harper when he's in there and De'Aaron Fox when he's doing what he's brought in to do and firing.

That is a formidable team.

I wonder if De'Aaron Fox catches any momentum off the end of Game 3, because that was a big shot .

He was like a contested 16-footer.

He was sandwiched between OGN and Obi, who had a great game, by the way, and Carl Towns.

Um, I wonder if that gives him a little more momentum because he overall he shot poorly.

He was 4 to 14 in that game.

So I wonder if that gives him a little bit of boost because his efficient offense is big for San Antonio.

In a weird way, I'm almost resigned to Jalen Brunson not having a breakout game, and maybe I'll live to eat my words in 24 hours, but the Spurs have done such an outstanding job on him defensively, and they haven't had to send multiple defenders all that often.

Like they've, they've picked their spots where they've tried to take the ball out of his hands, but when Castle's in the game, he's got Brunson, and he has done a fantastic job defending Brunson.

And I don't think that's gonna change.

Like, Castle is not the kind of guy that looks like his energy tank is, is low right now.

He, he looks fine in these possessions, but they all have to do exactly what they are doing, right?

It takes every single one of those Spurs players to be on point in their defense, and there is a couple of defensive possessions, by the way, that they had that I know I'm gonna see breakdowns of over the next 24 hours because all the, all, exactly, all the, I, I actually rode clinic, I mean, right.

I, I rode the elevator with, uh, John Hollinger on the way out of the game, and you know, as we know, he is a statistician type and an X and O geek if there ever was one, and he was foaming at the mouth to break that play down on the internet.

Best defensive plays I've ever seen.

What was it, 56 passes that went around and Wemby looks like, like any other player probably gives up on that play in that moment, gets beat by Landry Shamme and an exhausting defensive possession.

And there goes Wemby, you know, just chasing that down and blocking the shot.

That was.

If they come back in the series, that could be one of those like one shining moments there.

But that's what they have to do when you talk about them containing Brunson.

They are absolutely capable of doing what almost no one else in the league has proven proven able to do and contain Jalen Brunson, but everybody has to be exactly where they're supposed to be.

And there were still a couple times you saw Jalen Brunson just drive in, and it almost was so quick that nobody knew where he was, and he does that little lay-in at the basket downhill.

He's tough.

He is once he gets momentum, gets downhill.

That's when his like bag becomes even deeper.

He can just sort of euro step.

He can go both hands.

He's almost and he draws contact when he does that, and he just has to do that two more times than he did in the last game.

But the flip side is like the Knicks, like they had to be near perfect to win the first two games of the series.

Like they needed cat.

Like going into Game 3, Karl-Anthony Towns is probably the MVP, like the finals MVP.

He did not play well in Game 3.

I think he had 11 points.

He had some, I think foul issues of his own.

Um, at times during that game, um, they need much more from him.

Like, I, I think, I think the Spurs are gonna continue to make Brunson inefficient.

Like he's still gonna get his points.

Like game one, he had 30 points, but he took 31 shots.

Spurs don't want to live with the 4th quarter, but they could have lived with that kind of general inefficiency.

I think he was 25 shots and 20 points in game two.

Uh, game 3 a little bit more efficient, but like they have done a really good job of making him inefficient.

I think they can continue doing that.

Kat is the guy that needs to exploit these matchups.

They need to get 18 and 12 from him every single night, 19 and 1120 and 10, that kind of production.

When they don't, they leave themselves a little bit vulnerable because look, do I think OG An Obi's gonna have another good game?

Yeah.

Is he gonna be like, was he 9 for 11 or some absurd number?

He was bucketing everything?

Maybe not, um.

I, I think, look, every one of these games went back and forth.

It could very easily be 3-0 Knicks.

It could just as easily be 3-nothing Spurs.

That's how competitive they've been.

So I think.

I think they're both gonna have to be flawless to come out of a win like this.

What do you make of the fact that Kat hasn't scored a point in the 4th quarter of the last 2 games, I think it is, right?

And that's the stat I keep seeing.

Shelby will have to take this out if we have the stat wrong, but maybe we have it right, and all you guys out there are hearing this.

That's the stat I keep hearing.

I can look it up.

I don't know.

I mean, it, it, it was a problem in Game 3.

There's no doubt about that.

Um, was it a problem in Game 2?

Not necessarily.

I think they got enough, uh, enough output there, uh, from him in game two.

I, I just think it's, it's not the total production from Towns.

It's the threat that he is in the paint.

It's the ability to exploit mismatches.

It's taking Wembayama out on the perimeter and forcing him to defend, keeping him away from the basket.

It's more 0 4th quarter points in the entire NBA Finals so far.

Sorry, it hasn't felt that way.

I know, but look, I'm looking.

I have put the glasses on.

I believe you.

I believe now I'm looking at it, but he had 2, like I thought the 1st 2 games were 2 great games, 50 points in the 1st 3 quarters.

0 in the fourth of each of these games.

Look, 50 points in 3 quarters isn't, you know, in the 3 quarters across.

Like we didn't touch on him.

He had a couple.

He was a couple of shots early, but yeah, overall like he, he had played great in game 28 of 13.

He's had, I mean, he's had such an exceptional playoffs.

At some point you gotta have a bad game.

You're only human, but, um.

I'm curious, if you were the Spurs, how would you try to get Kat in foul trouble early, because that is, of course, the answer, not only in having him put Wemby on him, or they're gonna, or Kat's gonna be on Wemby.

Keep going to the basket.

Like what I loved early on was watching Wemby.

He passed up on a 3-pointer in the first quarter.

It's like, I go, there we go.

There we go.

But why aren't we seeing, I mean this gets back to my earlier question.

It's not that hard.

These are all smart, smart players.

Mitch Johnson is a.

Great coach.

You and I, who, you know, we don't have anywhere near the basketball coaching experience that the Spurs brain trust has.

How come it has not been drilled into these guys' head, including their star player?

You got, especially early, just go to the hoop, go to the hoop, go to the hoop.

I don't go to the hoop is like physically taxing, and I think they've been pretty gassed the first couple of games.

I think the extra day really helped them more than it helped the Knicks, like getting that extra day, that Sunday in New York when Wemy can go draw.

The booth statue in Gramercy .

Why, can I ask you a question?

Why is there a statue of John column then this morning I did not yet.

I was busy listening to the actual players talking.

One of the great, uh, actors of the 19th century.

Is that why his brother was jealous and shot the president?

Can we say for people who don't know, John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln , his brother, there is a statue of him in Gramercy Park, and that is what Victor was sketching.

Before game 3, and this he reports self-reporting art critic that it was actually a pretty good sketch, he said sketch, uh, but is it Edwin Booth?

I think it is Edwin Booth.

I didn't know.

See, I should have, it should have been the first thing I did this morning, one of the great thespians of the 19th century.

Uh, he also was the founder of the Players Club or Player Club, I think that's the name Club Player.

Did they have Playa back in the 1800s, 18 1900s.

No, I don't think they just checking, but it was this club that commissioned the statue for him there.

It went up, I think, in 1918, and because he was just so good at acting, I think it was because he had the club and it was a rich people club and and build him a statue or something, so.

Uh, but yes, that's what he's doing in the park, and, and I think it's not the statue or the drawing, but it's the extra 24 hours of rest.

I think that really helped them.

That's why I'm a little bit more concerned going into game 4 that the ability to recharge.

Like if they win this game 4, we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit here, but if they win Game 4, and then Game 5 is not till Saturday, 2 full days rest, going back home, sleeping in your own bed, getting your own treatment in your own facility like.

This is an important game for the Knicks.

Oh, it's huge.

This is, no, I mean that road that I keep talking about gets a lot flatter if now you only have to win two of the next day.

Do you think at all it's possible, and the Knicks, I'm not gonna say they did this because I didn't get the vibe that they were.

They were feeling us at all during the practice day on Sunday.

But the practice day on Sunday and the 24 hours before game three, it felt celebratory.

We're at the practice press conference and Fat Joe's there asking a question saying, when we win, Mike, can I get some of your PF flyers?

Can I get them autographed?

You know, Stiller's there.

Other celebs are there.

Everybody in New York, it's Nixon 4.

You're seeing that guy on the Microphone going my mayor's Muslim.

My bagel's Jewish.

My Christian Dior Nixon Ford.

I was everywhere.

It was everywhere.

Doesn't sound as good coming from me.

It really doesn't, uh, but it was everywhere, and I think it was, there was a celebratory mood that they were gonna win this.

We didn't mention, I think it's fair to give both sides fair play.

Uh, Mayor Manami in the building last night didn't get shown in the Jumbotron.

Well, he was in the $1000 standing room only.

You can't get a camera seat there.

I, I don't know.

I think they had some social media up there, but yeah, that was, that was where he was, yeah, um, with the people, with the people, man of the people .

I, I just think, I think that at the very least the crowd thought this series was a wrap .

The fan base thought this series was a wrap, and I wonder if it's possible to buy into that if you're the Knicks, even as they're saying in every word they said, 0-0, we didn't accomplish anything on the ya yada yada.

But I wonder if that seeps in a little bit when the public perception is this team is cooked.

Look, again, I, I'm not trying to be, you, I have been Victor Webuyama's greatest supporter since the moment he stepped in the league.

I think that he's going to win so many rings.

I think that we are gonna start talking about him among the greatest players ever, barring injury.

Like, I mean, you know, barring an injury happening with him.

I don't know if he's going to win this series though, because it is such, again, I cannot stress enough, they walked into New York having to win 4 out of 5.

They now face Game 4, having to win 3 of the next 4.

So yes, the guy who said Nixon 4 was wrong.

I am not sure the fans.

Wandering around New York saying we have this, we have this, are going to be proven wrong.

In the end, they may be proven right.

Now, I will say, again, living here for nearly 20 years and as did you, there is still Knicks dread.

And even going into game 3 with them up 2-0, I had so many of my Knicks fans friends texting me going.

I don't know, man.

I don't think we can win this series and you just had to be like, just, just.

So I'm sure the existential dread in the city, all of the nice sort of guilt that likes to come up in the city, the anxiety.

The Larry Davidness, the Jerry Seinfeldness will be meeting us It's such an important game in this game 4.

Knicks win and they'll get one of the next 3.

I don't have any doubt that'd be the case.

Spurs win.

I'm putting the Spurs right back in the driver's seat.

2 of the next 32 of the next 3 at home.

And again, I, I can't emphasize this enough.

The extra days in between some of these games is much more important for San Antonio.

They need it so.

Much more.

So you're talking about every game now after this would be extra days.

It would be Saturday, then I think it's Tuesday, and then it's Friday.

It's travel day in between though, and it's not a, but like, no, it's not.

But I mean you're flying on a damn private jet.

You're fine, and you're, you're, but you're getting, you're not having to play.

You're not having to practice.

The, the team that needs it the most is San Antonio.

How do you think the Spurs team plane has had to be reorganized for Wendy's legs?

I don't know.

They're pretty big planes as it is.

They've dealt with seven-footers before.

Like, he's, he's big, but he's, you know, is he measurably bigger than Luke Cornett?

Yes, Luke Cornett's 71.

It's like he's 7.

He's between 74 and 76, depending on how you measure him, and he maybe gets exit row when they it's a little more than exit row.

I think they got to take out a row of seats, right?

I mean, they're spaced way apart, different than a normal plane, these NBA planes, but still, I think maybe there's a row of seats that had to come out or should come out, possibly.