Spurs know they have to be better in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and Knicks feel the same way

SAN ANTONIO (AP) 鈥� The road to the NBA Finals was not exactly smooth for the San Antonio Spurs.

They had 鈥� and lost 鈥� home-court advantage in Round 1 against Portland, before recovering to In Round 2 against Minnesota, the same thing happened. In the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, they trailed 2-1 before finding a way to in seven games.

And now, the finals. They had home-court advantage and against the New York Knicks. Adversity, hello again.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been consistent in that regard,鈥� Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Thursday as his team prepares for Game 2 on Friday night. 鈥淚 think one thing we have learned in our three series is that series are long. Games are long. Things shift quickly, whether that鈥檚 health, who鈥檚 playing well or hot, quote-unquote, at the time. Teams at this stage typically have shown the ability to evolve on the fly and improve within a series.鈥�

That’s what will be required if the Spurs are going to head to New York with this series knotted at a game apiece.

They shot poorly in Game 1 (36%), extremely poorly from 3-point range (26%, missing 32 of 43 tries), had 16 assists (nowhere near enough), got outscored in the paint 50-42 and couldn’t hold a 14-point third-quarter lead. The Knicks deserve credit for creating a whole lot of those issues, but the Spurs know they’re capable of much better play.

鈥淚 think the reason we lost that game isn鈥檛 even technical (or) tactical,鈥� Spurs star said. 鈥淲e need to approach the game with a better mental state. We just need to play our game. We just need to be normal.鈥�

Normal?

鈥溾€楴ormal鈥� means trusting each other, trusting the basketball gods, trusting the game plan, executing, and not relying on talent so much to make shots or to save the day,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing a certain way all season. We鈥檝e been successful this way. There鈥檚 no reason to change the day the finals start.鈥�

It was easy for the Spurs to find areas to clean up.

For the Knicks these days, that’s considerably tougher.

They’re 12-0 in their last 12 games, the third team to do that in a single postseason. The other two 鈥� San Antonio in 1999 and Golden State in 2017 鈥� were NBA champions. The Knicks are certainly playing like a championship-capable team, but star guard Jalen Brunson insists that New York can’t subscribe to any sort of thinking that suggests the job is done and a parade is inevitable.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all about just getting better every single day, keep chipping away, keep chipping away, being 1% better,鈥� said Brunson, who led all scorers with 30 points in his finals debut Wednesday. 鈥淲hen you take steps back, how can you improve? … Having that mentality and focus and approach I think allows us to still be students of the game and still find ways to learn, even through wins, and I think we need to continue to do that.鈥�

The Knicks were coming off their second nine-day break between series 鈥� an unintended consequence of sweeping Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals and Cleveland in the East finals 鈥� and handled it just fine.

But New York’s Mikal Bridges knows Game 2 will be better.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think our Game 1s, even though we won, have been great at all,鈥� Bridges said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to assimilate the emotional aspect, how physical it鈥檚 going to be when you鈥檙e in practice every day, besides being in those games. It鈥檚 tough. … Now, we kind of got a rhythm. We’ve got to be better and I know we will be Game 2.鈥�

The Spurs hope they will as well.

It’s not must-win time for San Antonio, but going to New York in a 2-0 hole would make the challenge of winning the finals considerably more daunting. The Spurs have handled all the adversity that has come their way so far in the playoffs, and now have to answer that bell again.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very reassuring,鈥� Wembanyama said. 鈥淲e know we鈥檙e not here by chance. We鈥檝e been through some weird 鈥� what do you call it? 鈥� weird situations, whatever. Yes, it鈥檚 reassuring to know that these guys, the 18 guys we got, are built this way. They are resilient.鈥�

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