By J.R. Wilco | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-06-12 14:25:19
对于年轻的马刺来说，这轮季后赛经历了一场终极的拉锯战。赢球时，经验显得无足轻重，天赋和凝聚力压倒一切；输球时，关于缺乏经验的陈词滥调便又甚嚣尘上。时至今日，他们在总决赛关键时刻屡屡执行不力，已然将自己逼到了淘汰的边缘，这让人再也无法忽视一个事实：他们如今的处境完全是自找的。然而，不幸中的万幸在于，他们能从这一局面中吸取教训，这将有助于每一个与球队相关的人在未来做好更充分的准备。
在本期“与敌共舞”（Fraternizing with the Enemy）系列对话中，我将继续与来自 Posting and Toasting 的罗塞尔·理查德森 (Russell Richardson) 探讨这轮系列赛跌宕起伏的局势。在这期间，我们建立起了一段意想不到的友谊，它发展得如此迅速而坚固，无论这届总决赛以何种方式收尾，这段友谊都将长存。如果你错过了之前的讨论，可以回顾第 1、2、3 和 4 部分。
J.R.
我的朋友，我想我可以称你为我的朋友了。我们通过电话，互相自嘲，也拿彼此开过玩笑。是的，虽然我们的友谊不像我与其他人的交情那样深厚悠久，但我认为称你为朋友是稳妥的。我只希望我能一直拥有你这位朋友。
我并没有改变这其中的赌注，也希望没有改变任何事情。但我必须承认我们友谊的一个基本前提，更广泛地说，也是我写过的每一篇“与敌共舞”文章和系列对话背后的一个前提：这轮系列赛的结果不可能让我们双方都皆大欢喜。
我已经公开表示，从长远来看，第四场的失利对球队是有好处的，甚至可能是件大好事。我宁愿他们因为打得愚蠢而输球，并随着时间的推移学会聪明地打球，也不愿他们养成依赖天赋救场的长期坏习惯。对于有时间限制的体育运动来说，第一条铁律就是：当你大比分领先时，时间才是你最主要的敌人，而不是对手。在这种情况下，放慢节奏，把球打到内线，稳稳拿下两分或制造罚球。赢下比赛。当你处于加罚状态（Bonus）时，这一切更是要加倍贯彻。
我的意思是，球队在进攻时间还很充裕时就不断出手三分。有时他们甚至为了投一个空位三分，而放弃了突破空无一人的内线。我一遍又一遍地念叨着“慢下来，把球打到内线”，以至于和我一起看比赛的父母（我的家人还在科罗拉多州）肯定都听烦了，但球队却固执地拒绝这样做。
如果队里没有人明白这一点，或者无法将其传达给其他队员，那么只要大家能从中吸取教训，承受被完成NBA总决赛历史上最大逆转的尴尬也是值得的。我讨厌这场比赛的结果，希望球队也同样痛恨它，并能从中汲取每一分可以改进的力量。
话虽如此，我需要引用我一位朋友常说的话：“在这个季后赛中，马刺还没有在不搬起石头砸自己脚的情况下，输掉过任何一场本该输掉的比赛。”我相信上述说法是正确的，而且我也认为，既然这支天赋异禀、信心爆棚、韧性惊人的球队整个赛季都在创造前无古人的神迹并刷新各种纪录，他们依然有可能在1-3落后的情况下完成逆转。这听起来既荒谬又可怕，但我认为这完全有可能发生。
这就是为什么我在这段开头会那样写……因为如果那一幕真的发生，我必须确保我们双方都做好了准备，以便我们还能继续做朋友。
现在，是时候谈谈那场比赛有多么不可思议了。我对纽约这座城市或那里的居民没有任何感情，但当逆转发生时，我身上发生了一件最奇怪的事。我发现自己居然在为那些因我支持的球队即将落败而庆祝的人感到高兴。不是那些名人或什么夸张的群体，而是当镜头拉远，看到整个球馆都在为眼前上演的、他们身处其中的疯狂而离奇的逆转而欢呼庆祝时——我为他们感到高兴。
在那样的时刻产生这种程度的共情，感觉太超现实了。我并不是说我有了灵魂出窍的体验，也绝对不会声称自己大彻大悟了。这并没有什么特别神圣、仁慈或令人不安的感觉。我只是能够为那些我根本不在乎的人的快乐而感到快乐。这很奇妙，但我绝对推荐这种体验。这绝对是一种能冲淡输球痛苦的良药。
R.R.
在今年季后赛的众多惊喜中，有两个是最大的。一个是发现尼克斯是天选之子，被宇宙选中最终夺冠，哈利路亚，阿门。另一个是与一位在本次总决赛之前只闻其名的 SBNation 同事建立起如此深厚且令人愉快的友谊。再次感谢你发起这次收获满满的合作。我预计我们的友谊将远远延续到尼克斯赢下第五场比赛之后。
如果那万分之一的概率发生，你的马刺连赢三场，我们的友谊依然会存在——但鉴于我到时候肯定已经不省人事了，你可能会觉得这段友谊索然无味，成了单相思。
现在来谈谈这场比赛。真是场神仙打架。在今年季后赛中，我已经有很多次在跌跌撞撞上床睡觉时，依然不敢相信自己的眼睛，并深信这一场——就是这一场——是史上最伟大的比赛。但随后，尼克斯总能一次又一次刷新我的认知。
这场比赛开局不妙。迈克·布朗 (Mike Brown) 今晚的战术本打算以卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 为核心。米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 显然料到了这一点，这就是为什么达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在开场第一次进攻中就直奔他而去。裁判吹罚了一个有争议的轻微接触犯规，这显然对你们有利。随后在另一端，他们又推翻了一个双方都有拉扯动作、可吹可不吹的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的犯规。最终犯规算在了唐斯头上，这看起来就像是NBA官方精心包装的礼物。上面附带的卡片写着：“让我们看看，在KAT双手被缚、大屁股只能坐在板凳席上的情况下，纽约该怎么办。哇哈哈！ 爱你的，亚当”。
与此同时，上半场的尼克斯仿佛中了《满洲候选人》里的催眠术。有报道称，一个身穿风衣的神秘身影在球馆通道里吹响了哨子。在那之后，整支球队都变成了行尸走肉。
因此，尼克斯因为顾忌哨声，没有打出平时那样的身体对抗。更糟糕的是（或者说更好，取决于你支持哪支球队），圣安东尼奥马刺在上半场投出了历史级的命中率。
随着犯规不断增加，迈克·布朗不得不深挖他的板凳席。看到你的老朋友杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 登场，你有多兴奋？看过一点索汉的比赛后，我猜你当时口水都快流出来了。
谈到替补席：你们的替补得到了28分。布朗启用了七名替补，他们合力贡献了12分。更糟糕的是（或者说更好，取决于你支持哪支球队），约什·哈特 (Josh Hart) 和米卡尔·布里奇斯 (Mikal Bridges) 在61分钟内13投仅合砍13分。这意味着尼克斯的进攻基本上只由杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson)、OG·阿奴诺比 (OG Anunoby) 以及零星的唐斯组成。然而……一场史诗级的逆转还是发生了……这怎么可能？？
大家都知道，打破“满洲候选人”催眠状态的唯一方法就是召唤武当帮（Wu-Tang Clan）的力量。幸运的是，他们刚好被预定为半场休息时的表演嘉宾！这解释了那场终结了马刺历史级上半场手感的历史级大逆转。所有的功劳都属于武当帮。
顺便说一句，在第三节将马刺限制到仅得14分已经令人印象深刻。而在第四节又将他们限制在16分？简直令人震惊。
你们比赛讨论贴里的某个人（我当时在潜水！）写道：“布伦森会赢得MVP，但OG才是尼克斯最好的球员。”这百分之百正确。OG是整个季后赛中表现最稳定的球员，毋庸置疑。他今晚的防守不可思议，他对福克斯的那次盖帽不仅抹掉了关键的两分，还为最后一次进攻奠定了基础——在那次进攻中，他得到了致胜的两分。我的购物车里放了一整个赛季的阿奴诺比球衣，是时候结账了。
尼克斯完美地执行了他们的最后一次得分战术。阿奴诺比发球后便全速奔跑——没人防守他帮了大忙，让他有了一条畅通无阻的跑道。与此同时，布伦森知道如果球没投进，阿奴诺比会跟进补篮，而时机的把握至关重要。出手太早，阿奴诺比赶不到；等得太久，时间可能就不够完成补篮了。哦，而且他的出手弧度必须足够高，才能避开文班的封盖范围。我估计这个战术成功的概率只有10%，也就是十次里成一次。但这依然比完成29分的大逆转概率要高！
我那刚开始对篮球产生兴趣的妻子说：“这对于那个古怪的秃头男人来说一定很痛苦。”（她指的是汤姆·锡伯杜 (Tom Thibodeau)）。她说得对，我敢打赌汤姆很难接受这个结果。他本该是站在总决赛场边执教的那个人，而不是那个整天笑嘻嘻的迈克·布朗。汤姆一边嘟囔着，一边按下了录像机的停止键并开始倒带。他会拿出一个崭新的笔记本，从头开始重看，记录下米奇·约翰逊的所有失误。
有许多失误等着锡伯杜去记录。你提到过其中的一些（出手太急、放弃轻松得分的机会等）。马刺领先优势如此之大，他们甚至可以在整个下半场只通过消耗24秒违例来拖延时间，也依然能稳操胜券。你认为这次崩盘的最大责任在谁？米奇？还是那些不断乱投的球员？
J.R.
当对一场单纯的灾难（比如泰坦尼克号沉没或兴登堡号空难）进行事后分析时，你或许可以给不同的参与者分配一定比例的责任。但当你谈论的是在总决赛第四场这样重大的比赛中，29分的领先优势化为乌有，那就没有什么责任轻重之分了。每个人都要承担全部责任。这挺好的，因为他们可以分担。正如大家都知道的，分享就是关爱。
问题在于，马刺之所以会丢掉这个领先优势，是因为发生了大约17种不同的个人、团队和系统性失误。如果其中任何一个失误没有发生，马刺就赢了。在有如此多关键时刻掉链子的情况下，去划分责任就像是西西弗斯推石头，永无止境。
如果每个人都承担责任，那么每个人都能提高1%，希望这种事永远不要再发生。对我来说，即使球队今年无法逆转夺冠，这也足够了。但我知道，对于其他人来说，这种话听起来会很不舒服。
有些人听到这种言论，会将其等同于不在乎，对此我的回应是：我无法决定圣安东尼奥的输赢，我只能决定自己如何去面对它。
选择权在我手中，我选择相信马刺能够（就像文班在第二场之后说的那样）直面挫折，拍拍身上的尘土，并从中吸取教训，迈向伟大。我并不是说他们必须输掉这轮系列赛，才能学会带着些许谦逊和篮球智商（BBIQ）去打球，因为以前也有球队在1-3落后的情况下完成过逆转，这支马刺队完全可以做出必要的调整并在今年夺冠。我的意思是，如果他们没有做到，我依然会认为这对他们来说是一件好事，即使无法保证他们以后还能再回到这个舞台。
我的观点是，我选择认为输球也有积极的一面，这并不意味着我认为他们以后一定能回来，也不意味着我想让他们输。它只是意味着我继续坚信这个核心真理：人类最美好的品质之一，就是能在逆境中寻找积极的因素，并将消极的事件转化为推动最终胜利的燃料。这就是我想对自己和他人讲述的故事，我拒绝再次让自己沉溺于输球的痛苦中，而是选择抬起头，期待未来更好的事情。我曾以另一种方式生活过，我不想再那样了。那太痛苦了。
1-3落后并非不可逾越，但如果事实证明这对于今年的这支球队来说负担太重，那么我选择将其视为一个契机，而不是一件令人绝望的事。因为这支球队在系列赛中落后，并不是因为他们不够优秀。他们在四场比赛后落后并处于淘汰边缘，是因为他们没有珍惜每一次球权；因为他们不愿意放弃简单的三分投射去选择突破；因为他们还没有利用好自己巨大的天赋，一步一个脚印地去解决眼前的难题，就急于庆祝、嘲讽并沉浸在对手必败的幻觉中；因为他们还没有学到，有些球队是永远不会放弃的，只要给他们机会，他们就会反扑并击败你。
R.R.
我们的看法类似：每个人都要为这场失利承担责任。近因效应往往会让最后的失误显得最扎眼，福克斯也因为没有耗尽时间而饱受指责。但文班投丢了16个球和3个罚球。朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 在下半场只出手了3次，而斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 仅出手了1次。德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 在中场休息后的正负值为全队最低的-28。球队在半场前只有2次失误，而半场后却有9次。米奇·约翰逊对比赛的掌控不力，本可以做更多工作来延缓对手的势头。
福克斯的那次上篮尝试将因为时机选择而被永远铭记，但它只是那一连串灾难性执行的缩影。这一回合浓缩了圣安东尼奥在这轮系列赛中最大的问题，那就是在简单的比赛管理就足够赢球的情况下，非要追求赢得惊天动地。小伙子们，有时候平淡才是真。（我希望这是真的，因为这也是我的核心特质之一。）
我们的分歧在于，我（毫不掩饰我的偏见）给纽约记了更大的功劳。在中场休息时，布朗没有给他们看任何录像剪辑，而是选择让球员们自己讨论局势。他们决定稳扎稳打，选择“安打”而不是“全垒打”，而约瑟·阿尔瓦拉多 (Jose Alvarado) 则扮演了啦啦队长的角色，鼓励他们建立起可以延续到第五场比赛的势头。
当尼克斯通过短打上垒时，圣安东尼奥在第三节仅得14分，他们满足于跳投，不再冲击禁区，并且在阿奴诺比换防福克斯时从未做出调整。
布伦森引领了这次逆转，最终砍下36分和7次助攻。他和阿奴诺比接连命中关键球，帮助尼克斯在最后一节抹平了15分的落后分差。迈克·布朗也同样功不可没，他重用了阿尔瓦拉多，并将阿奴诺比换防到福克斯身上。
阿尔瓦拉多在暗中发挥了巨大的作用。尼克斯需要第二个持球点来减轻布伦森的压力，而迪斯·麦克布莱德 (Deuce McBride) 在季后赛中表现挣扎。阿尔瓦拉多填补了这一空缺，投中了几个关键球，并带来了不知疲倦的防守强度，用光了他全部的5次犯规。没有他，他们根本无法完成逆转。
这已经成为了尼克斯的球队特质。这是他们今年季后赛的第二次史诗级逆转，此前他们在东部决赛中曾落后克利夫兰22分并最终翻盘。他们一次又一次地散发出死亡的腐朽气息，却又总能像拉撒路一样死而复生。
至于圣安东尼奥屡屡建立大比分领先却无法守住的顽疾——随着他们走向成熟，他们会学会如何避免重蹈覆辙。
听我这个饱受折磨的尼克斯球迷一句劝：富有成效的应对方式是集体承担责任并共同提高。如果每个人都能从失败中吸取教训，那么无论本赛季的结果如何，这场失利都有其价值。这百分之百是真理：球迷无法控制输赢，只能控制自己如何去解读和面对它们。在失败中寻找意义和成长，远比反复揭开伤疤更具治愈力。
我想，是时候做出我的预测了。鉴于尼克斯已经在霜冻银行中心（Frost Bank Center）赢了两次，并且凭借周三的胜利起势，大局已定。作为篮球迷，我希望看到一场竞争激烈的比赛，甚至希望在赛季结束前能有第六场对决。但作为尼克斯球迷，我的心脏再也承受不起任何压力了。周六晚上，尼克斯将赢下比赛，终结53年的冠军荒，而我依然能在周二和威尔科（Wilco）一起尽情狂欢。你怎么看？
未完待续……
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：A silver linings playbook for the Spurs
A silver linings playbook for the Spurs
These playoffs have been the ultimate back-and-forth for the young Spurs. When they win, experience doesn’t matter, and talent and comradery trumps all. When they lose, all the conversations about inexperience start up again. By now, it may finally be impossible to ignore, as the list of their failures to execute in the clutch in the Finals has them on the brink of elimination, that their position has been entirely self inflicted. The silver lining is that there are lessons to take from this situation that will help everyone involved with the team to be more prepared in the future.
I continue discussing the wild ebbs and flows of this series with Russell Richardson of Posting and Toasting in this series of Fraternizing with the Enemy conversations in which a ln unlikely friendship has grown so fast and firm that it will certainly endure beyond however these Finals conclude. If you missed them, go back and check out parts parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
J.R.
My friend, I think I can call you my friend. We’ve spoken on the phone. We’ve exchanged self deprecating remarks. We’ve laughed at each other‘s expense. Yeah, although our friendship isn’t as long as others I have, I think it’s safe to call you my friend. I just hope I can keep you as a friend.
I’m not changing the stakes of this. I hope I’m not changing anything at all. But I am going to admit one of the basic assumptions of our friendship, and more largely an assumption that lies under every Fraternizing with the Enemy post and series I’ve ever done: this can’t end well for both of us.
I’ve gone on record to say that the Game 4 loss will be good for the team in the long run. It might even be great. I’d rather that they lose playing stupid & learn to play smart over time, than to develop the long-term bad habits that come from expecting your talent to bail you out. Rule number one for sports with a clock: when you’re up big, the clock is your primary enemy, not the opponent. Under those circumstances, slow it down, work the ball inside, get twos & FTs. Win. When you’re in the bonus, all of that goes double.
I mean, the team kept on shooting threes early in the clock. Sometimes they even avoided driving an open lane just because a three-pointer was open. As I was saying over and over to the point that I’m sure my parents (who I watched the game with as my family is still in Colorado) were tired of hearing me say “slow it down and work the ball inside,” and the team steadfastly refused to do that.
If no one on the team knows this or can get it across to the rest of the team, then suffering the embarrassment of giving up the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history would be worth it, as long as everyone learns from it. I hated the outcome of this game, and hopefully the team hates it enough to extract every bit of improvement they can from it.
All that said, I need to quote a friend of mine who is fond of saying, “The Spurs have yet to lose a lost game this postseason in which they haven’t shot themselves in the foot.” I believe that the above is true, and I also think that since this amazingly talented, phenomenally confident, outrageously resilient team has spent all season doing things that no team has ever done before while setting all kinds of records, they could still come back from trailing 3-1. That’s as ridiculous as it is scary, but I think it’s completely true.
And that is why I started this section the way that I did … because if that happens, I had to make sure that we’re both prepared for it so that we can remain friends.
And now it’s time for me to talk about how amazingly awesome that game was. I have no attachment to the city of New York or its residents, but when the comeback was happening, I had the strangest thing happen to me. I found that I was actually happy for the people celebrating at the potential demise of my team. Not the celebs or anything outrageous like that, but the wide shots of the arena all cheering and celebrating at the unhinged and bizarre event that was unfolding in front of them and in which they were participating — I felt good for them.
It was so surreal to have that level of empathy in a moment like that. I’m not saying I had an out of body experience and I’m definitely not going to claim enlightenment. It wasn’t anything that felt particularly spiritual or benevolent or unnerving. I just was able to be happy for people being happy that I didn’t and don’t care about at all. It was so strange and yet I definitely recommend it. It’s the kind of thing that takes the edge off losing, for sure.
R.R.
Of the many surprises this postseason, two were the biggest. One was to discover that the Knicks are the team of destiny, chosen by the universe to finally win a championship, hallelujah, amen. The other was to strike up such a rich and enjoyable friendship with an SBNation colleague who, until these Finals, I knew by name only. Thank you again for initiating this incredibly rewarding collaboration. I expect our friendship will extend far past the Knicks’ victory in Game Five.
And if the improbable occurs and your Spurs win three straight, our friendship will stand—but given that I will surely be comatose, you might find it unfulfilling and one-sided.
Now for the game. Whattagame. There have been numerous times this postseason when I have stumbled to bed, disbelieving what I’d seen and convinced that this—THIS—was the greatest game ever played. But then the Knicks do it again.
It had an inauspicious start. Mike Brown’s gameplan for tonight was going to feature Karl Anthony Towns. Mitch Johnson knew it, which is why Fox went right at him on the opening possession. The refs called a questionable brush-by foul, which clearly benefited your side. Then on the other end, they overturned a Wembanyama foul that could go either way because of mutual hooking. It went against Towns, which seemed wrapped in an NBA bow. The card attached read, “Let’s see what New York does with KAT’s hands tied behind his back and his big butt on the bench. Bwa-ha-ha! Love, Adam”.
Meanwhile, someone Manchurian Candidate-d the Knicks in the first half. There were reports of a shadowy figure in a trenchcoat who blew a whistle on the concourse. After that, the whole team turned into zombies.
So the Knicks were not playing with their usual physicality because they expected a whistle. Making matters worse (or better, depending on your rooting interest) was San Antonio’s historic first-half shooting.
With the fouls piling up, Mike Brown had to go deep into his bench. How excited were you to see yer old pal Jeremy Sochan take the floor? Having watched a little of Sochan’s game, I suspect you were salivating.
On the subject of benches: yours scored 28 points. Brown employed seven reserves and they contributed 12 points. Worse (or better, depending on your rooting interest), Hart and Bridges combined for 13 points on 13 shots in 61 minutes. That means the Knicks offense basically was composed of Brunson, Anunoby, and a smattering of Towns. And still…an epic turnaround…how??
Everyone knows that the only way to break a Manchurian Candidate trance is to evoke the powers of the Wu-Tang Clan. Lucky for us, they were booked as the halftime entertainment! Thus explains the historic comeback that undid the historic first-half shooting. All credit belongs with the Wu.
Btw, to hold the Spurs to 14 points in the third quarter was impressive. To then limit them to 16 in the fourth? Astounding.
Someone in your Game Thread (I was lurking!) wrote, “Brunson is going to win the MVP, but OG has been the Knicks’ best player.” That is one hundred percent accurate. OG has been the most consistent player all postseason, full stop. His defense tonight was incredible, and his block on Fox not only kept two critical points off the board, it set up the final possession—where he scored the two winning points. I’ve had an Anunoby jersey in the shopping cart all season long. It’s time for me to checkout.
The Knicks executed their last scoring play to perfection. OG inbounded the ball and took off running—it helped that no one guarded him, so he had an unencumbered runway. Meanwhile, Brunson knew that OG was coming in case of a miss and the timing was critical. Shoot too early and OG would not arrive in time; wait too long, and there might be nothing left on the clock for the tip-in. Oh, and he had to release high enough to clear Wemby’s reach. I’d estimate the likelihood of that play working successfully at 10%, or 1-in-10 times. Which was still more probable than a 29-point turnaround!
My wife, newly interested in the sport, said, “This must be so painful for the creepy bald man.” (She meant Thibs.) She’s right, I’ll bet Tom took this one hard. He was supposed to be on the sideline in the Finals, not that smiley Mike Brown. Grumbling to himself, Tom stops the recording on the VCR and rewinds it. He will re-watch from the beginning with a fresh notebook, keeping track of all Mitch Johnson’s mistakes.
There were a number of gaffes for Thibs to tally. You mentioned a few of them (quick trigger, forsaking the easy buckets, etc.). The Spurs were so far ahead, they could have just committed shot-clock violations throughout the second half to kill time and still would have secured the win. Where do you place the most blame for this collapse? Mitch? Or the players who kept chucking?
J.R.
When it’s time for a post event analysis on a simple disaster (you know, like the Titanic or the Hindenburg), you might be able to place a percentage of blame with a number of the participants in place. But when you’re talking about something like a 29 point lead that evaporates in a game as big as finals Game 4, there’s no such thing as more or less blame. Everyone gets all of it. Which is nice, because they can share. And as everyone knows, sharing is caring.
The thing is, there was something like 17 different individual, group, and systemic failures that happened in order for the Spurs to blow that lead, and if any of those failures doesn’t happen then the Spurs win. Parceling out blame when there are so many key moments that were butter-fingered is a Sisyphisean task. There’s no end to it.
If everyone gets the blame, then everyone improves 1%, and then hopefully it never happens again. For me there is enough even if the team doesn’t come back to win it all this year. For others, I know that talk rubs them the wrong way.
Some people hear this kind of talk and equate it with a lack of caring, and here’s my response to that. I don’t get to choose whether San Antonio wins or loses, I only get to decide how I’m going to respond to it.
That choice is mine and I choose to believe that the Spurs can (like Wemby said he would after G2) take this on the chin, dust themselves off, and learn from it to go on to greatness. I’m not saying that they must lose this series in order to learn how to play with a modicum of humility and a dose of BBIQ, because teams have come back from 3-1 and this Spurs team could make the necessary changes and take it this year. I’m saying that IF they don’t I will see it as a good thing for them even if there’s no guarantee that they ever make it back.
My point is that my choosing to think that there can be a positive to their losing doesn’t mean I’ll assume that they will make it back, nor does it mean that I WANT them to lose. It simply means that I’m continuing to believe in this core truth: one of the best human traits is to find the good amidst the bad and use a negative event as fuel to power eventual triumph. That’s the story I want to tell myself and others, and I refuse to abandon myself again to wallowing in the pain of loss instead of lifting my head up and expecting better things going forward. I’ve lived the other way and I won’t do it any more. It was miserable.
Being down 3-1 isn’t insurmountable, but if it turns out to be too much for this team this year, then I choose to view it as an opportunity and not a hopeless thing. Because this team isn’t behind in this series because they’re not good enough to win. They’re down after four games and on the brink of elimination because they haven’t valued every possession; because they weren’t willing to avoid the easy three and drive; because they haven’t harnessed their immense talent and worked the problem in front of them step by step before celebrating and taunting and reveling in their opponent’s certain defeat; because they’ve yet to learn that some teams don’t have any give-up in them and will come back to beat you if given the chance.
R.R.
We see it similarly: everyone shares responsibility for the loss. Recency bias tends to cast the last mistakes in the worst light, and Fox has caught flak for not running out the clock. But Wemby missed 16 shots and three free throws. Champagnie shot only three times in the second half, and Castle shot once. Vassell was a team-worst -28 plus-minus after intermission. The team committed two turnovers before halftime and nine after. Mitch Johnson mismanaged the game and could have done more to slow the opponent’s momentum.
The Fox layup attempt will live forever because of the timing, but it capped a disastrous stretch of execution. The play distilled San Antonio’s biggest problem in this series, which is trying to win spectacularly when simple game management would have been enough. Sometimes boring is best, boys. (I hope that’s true; it’s one of my defining characteristics.)
Where we differ is that I (unashamedly biased) give more credit to New York. At halftime, Brown didn’t show them any video clips, but chose to let the players discuss the situation among themselves. They decided to try for singles rather than home runs, and Alvarado was a cheerleader, encouraging them to build momentum that could carry over to Game Five.
While the Knicks bunted to get on base, San Antonio scored just 14 points in the third quarter, settled for jumpers, stopped getting into the paint, and never adjusted when OG Anunoby took on the Fox assignment.
Brunson led the comeback, finishing with 36 points and seven assists. He and Anunoby repeatedly delivered big baskets as the Knicks erased a 15-point deficit in the final period. Mike Brown deserves credit, too, for leaning on Alvarado and switching Anunoby onto Fox.
Alvarado was quietly huge. The Knicks needed a second ball handler to take pressure off Brunson, and Deuce McBride has been a dud in the playoffs. Alvarado filled that need, made a couple of big shots, and brought relentless defensive intensity, using all five of his fouls. They wouldn’t have come back without him.
This has become the Knicks’ identity. It was their second massive comeback of the postseason after rallying from 22 down against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals. They have repeatedly taken on a putrid stench of death and somehow risen like Lazarus.
As for the recurring theme of San Antonio building big leads and failing to protect them—with maturity, they will learn to stop doing that.
Take it from a long-suffering Knicks fan: the productive response is collective accountability and improvement. If everyone learns from the failure, the loss can have value regardless of the season’s outcome. It’s 100% true: fans cannot control wins and losses; they can only control how they interpret and respond to them. Finding meaning and growth in defeat is more healing than picking at a scab.
It’s time for my prediction, I suppose. Given that the Knicks already won twice at Frost Bank Center and have the wind at their back from Wednesday’s win, it’s a wrap. The basketball fan in me would love a competitive game, and maybe even a sixth contest before the season concludes. As a Knicks fan, my heart can’t handle any more stress. Saturday night, the Knicks win, they end the 53-year drought, and I still get to jam with Wilco on Tuesday. What say you?
to be continued …
By J.R. Wilco, via Pounding The Rock