The San Antonio Spurs find themselves in deep trouble. They have dropped the first two games at home and now must find a way to win Game Three at Madison Square Garden. That arena will not be forgiving to these young Spurs.
No team in NBA Finals history has ever dropped the first two games at home and ended up winning the series. The Spurs are the third team ever to find themselves in this situation in the final round. What happened to the first two?
The Phoenix Suns dropped their first two games at home in the 1993 finals against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. They ended up losing that series in six games.
The other team to do so was the 1995 Orlando Magic. They dropped their first two games at home and were swept. With how the New York Knicks are playing, a sweep seems more likely than a tight six- or seven-game series.
Will San Antonio beat the odds and become the first team ever to come back from 0-2 after losing home court? After all, it is the 10-year anniversary of the first-ever 3-1 comeback in the finals.
At some point, the Spurs may realize that the Knicks are just a bad matchup for them. When people picked San Antonio to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the finals, the overall rationale was that the Spurs were a bad matchup for them. In the regular season, they beat OKC in four out of five games.
That rationale proved to be true as the Spurs won a hard-fought series in seven games. That same logic, however, can be used against them. In the regular season, New York won two of the three matchups. With these two finals victories, it now has four out of five games.
For a team as young as San Antonio, the mental part of the game will be the hardest to overcome. It would not be the least bit surprising if many of the young players on the Spurs start to internally doubt their success in this matchup. They may never admit it publicly, but they’re human.
To make matters even worse, Jalen Brunson has not been good. In Games One and Two combined, he has shot 19/56 (34%) from the field. Despite that, the Knicks were still able to steal two road games. Another demoralizing fact is that Karl Anthony-Towns has played his role better than Victor Wembanyama.
Anthony-Towns is averaging 19.5 points and 12.5 rebounds on 55.6% from the field and 42.9% from three. Wemby is averaging 27.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 40.5% from the field and a measly 26.7% from three. KAT was essential in leading the Game One comeback in the second half and was the best player in Game Two while Brunson struggled.
Wembanyama had a tough close to game two with a crucial unforced turnover when the game was tied 104-104, and then he missed the game-winner. It’s not crazy to say that Anthony-Towns has been the better big man of the two.
Game Three will be very telling on where the Spurs are mentally. If they show fight early and make this a back-and-forth game, they clearly still have some belief. If the Knicks come out there and dominate the first quarter, it’s time to bring out the brooms.
It is paramount that San Antonio starts the game off well. They are not equipped to handle an early 10-12 point deficit in a madhouse called Madison Square Garden. They have to find a way to get the crowd out of it quickly.
Can Wemby and the Spurs pull it off?
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