06/09/26 02:31:00
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06/09 14:29 CDT Knicks need a quick response from first loss since April as the
Spurs try to even the NBA Finals
Knicks need a quick response from first loss since April as the Spurs try to
even the NBA Finals
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Last time the New York Knicks lost a game, they didn't do it
again for another month and a half.
When they fell behind against Atlanta in the first round of the NBA playoffs,
desperation turned into domination. The Knicks won 13 straight games, many of
them blowouts, in one of most impressive postseason stretches in NBA history.
They don't need to do anything so dramatic now. With a 2-1 lead over the San
Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, a simple 2-2 record the rest of the season
would give New York its first championship since 1973.
So after dropping Game 3, the Knicks don't need an overhaul. But they do need
to be better.
"We have a veteran group. Nobody is quote-unquote panicking or anything like
that," Knicks coach Mike Brown said Tuesday. "Everybody is disappointed that we
didn't go out and execute and play to what we feel our standard is. That's not
taking anything away from San Antonio, but we feel like we can play a lot
better than what we did.
"We're looking forward to going out on the floor and showing it."
Game 4 is Wednesday in a series in which the road team has won all three games,
only the second time that's happened in the NBA Finals.
The Spurs jumped on the Knicks right at the start and then outplayed them late
in their 115-111 victory on Monday. Victor Wembanyama controlled the action on
both sides with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.
Showing no fear of a rowdy road environment in the first NBA Finals game in
Madison Square Garden since 1999, just as they didn't in winning a Game 7 on
the road against defending champion Oklahoma City in the Western Conference
finals, Wembanyama and the Spurs again looked like a team that might be able to
win a title without first experiencing the growing teams that other young
groups have.
"We will see. But my bet would be yes, it's possible," Wembanyama said.
The Spurs thought so even after dropping the two games in San Antonio, which
means to win the title they would have to become the first team to do so after
starting 0-2 in its own building. It's a belief built from having one of the
best players in the world and loads of talent around him, a group so confident
that the players didn't think much of their accomplishment Monday.
"I didn't want us to get too happy about one win and get satisfied and take our
foot off the gas a little bit for the next game," said guard Stephen Castle,
who scored 23 points. "But I think since the end of Game 2 we've still been
confident that we're going to win this series, and that's what we plan to do."
The Knicks' first loss since April 23 didn't send them scrambling for
solutions, because they were constantly looking for ways to improve even when
all they did was win.
"Each game, no matter what the situation is, we're growing as a team. I think
we're learning and we're getting better --- obviously before last night," Jalen
Brunson said. "No matter what the situation is, we're going to stick together.
We're going to execute, we're going to be better. That's just how our mindset
has to be going forward."
They are things to fix. Karl-Anthony Towns isn't scoring in the fourth quarter.
Wembanyama has clearly figured out ways to hurt the Knicks in the last 1 1/2
games after struggling by his standards before that. They have to turn the ball
over less and defend better without fouling --- no matter what Brown thought of
the officiating in Game 3.
The Knicks did enough of those things well to run off the second-longest
winning streak in postseason history. Now they have to recover quickly from a
loss, or they'll head to San Antonio for Game 5 with the series tied.
"We have, what, 13 games in a row, 50 days of film to show what it looks like
when we're at our best. So we've got good film," Towns said. "We'll get back to
our fundamentals, what makes us great, what made us great, and get back to
work" in Game 4.
___
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