SAN ANTONIO (Talk1370.com) -- New York, New York…the city so nice they named it twice. Speaking of twice, that’s now two times the Knicks have come back from down by more than 10 points to steal home court away from the Spurs in San Antonio. They are now just two games away from being the champions after their 105-104 win.
Game two of the NBA Finals saw New York down by as much as 12 in the first half, but a 16-point swing saw them up 56-52 at halftime. In the first two minutes of the third quarter the Knicks went up by 12. San Antonio made things interesting and tied the game at 97 with just under three minutes left in the fourth.
The Spurs didn’t take the lead again until less than a minute remained in the game; this time, though, there would be no last-second heroics, as Victor Wembanyama made a bad pass in transition and then missed a jumper that would have won the game.
Wemby said in the postgame press conference "I threw that one away. I messed up. It's like the body reacts quicker than the mind. We needed to win that game. This game was ours.”
Even with good numbers, Webanyama still seemed off his game with Coach Mitch Johnson calling him “hesitant’ and ‘passive’ at half time. He finished the game with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. He was 11 for 21 from the field and had a good look at the game winning shot; it was too strong and hit the back of the rim.
“He’s made that shot a thousand times,” said Spurs guard Stephon Castle. “I’ll take that shot every day.”
The Spurs had five players in double figures with De’Aaron Fox scoring 20 and Dylan Harper had 15. New York also had five players with double digit scoring with three having 20 points or more. Karl-Anthony Towns led with 21 points with Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges each with 20. Towns also pulled in 13 boards and had 4 assists while going 8 for 12 shooting and going 3 for 5 from the arc.
For only the second time in this postseason, San Antonio lost the rebounding advantage, 44-42. The last time an opponent outrebounded the Spurs in the playoffs, they lost to Oklahoma City by 15 in the Western Conference Finals.
The Knicks haven’t lost a playoff game in over six weeks and are two games away from their first Finals win since 1973. Their last loss was to the Atlanta Hawks on April 23rd. They have rattled off 13 straight wins, the second-longest streak in NBA history. Beating the Spurs in San Antonio gave them their 8th road playoff win of the season and put them in a good position heading back to Madison Square Garden to close out the series. New York has only lost 11 games at home all season, including the playoffs.
With the series moving to Midtown Manhattan on Monday, of the 37 teams to go up 2-0 in the NBA Finals, 32 have gone on to win the best-of-seven series. With a win, the Larry O’Brien Trophy could be raised as early as Wednesday if the Knicks sweep. New York is just the third team to take the first two games of the Finals on the road, joining the 1993 Chicago Bulls and 1995 Houston Rockets, both of whom ended the year as champions.
Game three will be Sunday with a 7:30pm Central tip on ABC.
