Alexander Wilson
The New York Knicks are going to hear plenty about Victor Wembanyama before Game 1, and they should. He changes the geometry of every possession, which is the kind of phrase that sounds dramatic until you watch a guard think he has a driving lane and suddenly realize the rim is closed.
The sharper Knicks angle is not whether Wembanyama is terrifying. Everybody knows he is. The question is whether Jalen Brunson can use the part of his shot diet that San Antonio may have the hardest time fully erasing.
Brunson’s pull-up three has dipped in the playoffs, sitting at 29.8% entering the Finals, but the 8-to-16-foot game has been a weapon. That area could decide whether the Knicks can keep the Spurs from turning every possession into a math problem they control.
Brunson has to punish the in-between space
The Spurs want to make teams feel cramped. Wembanyama can sit near the rim and still contest shots that normal bigs cannot reach, while San Antonio’s guards can pressure the ball knowing there is a cheat code behind them.
That makes Brunson’s middle game critical. If he cannot get all the way to the rim and the pull-up three is not falling, the Knicks need him stopping on a dime, creating contact, and living in the short pockets before Wembanyama can fully load up.
The Finals start Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET, and the first few possessions should tell us plenty about New York’s plan. If Brunson is hunting the midrange early, that is probably not an accident.
The Knicks cannot let San Antonio dictate the map
The Knicks have other pressure points. Karl-Anthony Towns can pull size away from the basket, OG Anunoby can punish switches, Mikal Bridges can attack bent defenses, and Josh Hart can make the Spurs pay if they overhelp.
Still, Brunson is the one who bends the whole thing. When he gets to his spots, the Knicks’ offense has rhythm, patience, and force. When he gets funneled into rushed threes or late-clock bailouts, San Antonio can make the floor feel smaller than it really is.
I do not think this series is decided by one shot zone, but Brunson’s midrange counter feels like the cleanest way for New York to keep its offense from getting swallowed by Wembanyama’s reach. If that jumper is there, the Knicks have a real path to make San Antonio defend every layer of the floor.
More about:New York Knicks
