The San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks will battle in the NBA Finals for the second time in NBA history, with New York looking to avenge the loss they suffered in 1999.
At first glance, the Knicks seem to have favorable matchups. But the Spurs have the best player in the series. Who will win out?
Before the playoffs started, the general sentiment was that whoever came out of the Western Conference would be the champion. The West clearly showed it was the better conference during the regular season.
However, I am finding it hard to count the Knicks out, considering how dominant they have looked in the playoffs. San Antonio is still the favorite, but the gap has been closing leading up to the series to show that New York is not an ordinary underdog.
Pace will be important in this series. Offensively, the Spurs are at their best when they attack early. They have quick, aggressive guards who will push the pace given the opportunity. San Antonio will need to be even more assertive as the Knicks thrive in half court defense. New York has a size advantage at several positions. If the Spurs can run, they will offset that size.
San Antonio does have the tallest player with superstar Victor Wembanyama. He will clearly be the best player on the court. The 7-4 Frenchman can score inside with his height or outside with his three-point shooting. The Knicks will likely rotate defenders on Wemby in an attempt to wear him down. They will attempt to get him off the floor as his height on defense can bog down any offense.
The Spurs are coming off a series in which they faced an opponent, Oklahoma City, who had an elite primary creator and a bunch of role players who weren’t great at manufacturing their own shots but fantastic at finishing. The Knicks are similar in that, outside of Jalen Brunson, they don’t have anyone who is a top-end bucket getter, but plenty of players who know what to do when they are open.
San Antonio is a very young team with its best three players all 23 years old or younger. Still, I like them to win the series in six games. The Spurs just eliminated last year’s champs in Oklahoma City. New York cruised in the Eastern Conference against lesser opponents.
The Spurs, at their best, can beat opponents in different ways. If the transition buckets aren’t there, they have the creators and the finishers to use simple actions to get open looks. And they have Wembanyama, the most impactful two-way force in the league, locked in and ready for the challenge.
Both teams have advantages that they should be able to exploit, but if the Spurs’ young talent plays to its full potential, with Wemby leading the way, San Antonio could come out on top in what will surely be a close series.
