Once again, the NBA’s rising phenom attempted to exert his dominance and further establish a path to his first championship.
This time, San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama discovered he couldn’t do anything he wanted as he often did against the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren. Instead, New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns put together a roadblock that disrupted Wembanyama.
That largely explains why the Knicks prevailed with a 105-95 win over the Spurs on Wednesday in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Technically, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson provided a larger role with a team-leading 30 points. He scored 13 of those points in the fourth quarter after nursing injury scares throughout the night with his right knee and left ankle. But Towns played a more significant role in the third-seeded Knicks collecting a road win.
At least for one night, Towns disrupted Wembanyama’s hopes to do anything he wanted just as he did against Holmgren. Though Wembanyama has experienced plenty of success at Towns’ expense before, Towns took on the challenge and excelled for a key reason.
Towns approached the unenviable Wembanyama matchup completely opposite on how Holmgren handled the assignment. Towns didn’t shy away from the challenge. He embraced it. Towns didn’t appear worried that Wembanyama could stuff him at the rim. Instead, Towns attacked the basket with force. Towns didn’t look afraid that Wembanyama would posterize him. Instead, Towns defended him Webanyama with physicality and smarts.
The result: Towns finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and plenty of disrupted shots. Towns forced a Wembanyama turnover as the Knicks held a 99-95 with nearly a minute remaining. Towns also contested Wembanyama’s 3 as the Knicks nursed a 101-95 cushion with 29.5 seconds remaining. Wembanyama finished with 26 points while shooting 6-for-21 from the field and 2-for-9 from deep along with six turnovers largely because of Towns’ presence.
Nearly a year ago, Towns caused frustration during the Knicks playoff run for struggling to defend without fouling. He has become a six-time All-Star because of his versatility as a post-up player, perimeter shooter and passer. But he has struggled against elite big men in pivotal moments. When the Knicks hosted the Spurs on Christmas Day last season, Wembanyama feasted with 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
Not so in Game 1. Towns held Wembanyama to a 2-for-12 clip overall. Entering the fourth quarter, the Spurs shot only 1-for-8 from the field that Towns contested. Towns shot 7-for-15 from the field partly because Wembanyama played in drop coverage instead of defending him outright.
By no means did Towns play a perfect game. He shot 0-for-2 from deep. Towns collected four fouls. Wembanyama went 12-for-13 from the free-throw line partly because he attacked Towns at the rim.
Those developments didn’t deter Towns. He fueled the Knicks’ 22-9 run to end the third quarter that included a lob finish. Despite his fouls, Towns still played Wembanyama straight up with physicality and positioning as he drove to the basket. After Towns picked up his fourth foul, Wembanyama only split a pair of free throws to reduce New York’s lead to 94-92 with 3:24 remaining.
How did Towns pull this off against the Spurs’ 7-foot-3 superstar?
Afterwards, Towns told the “Inside the NBA”crew that he treated his first Finals game with a carefree mindset as if he were simply preparing for an AAU game. He also credited his late mother, Jacqueline-Cruz, for inspiring him ever since she died in April 2020 due to COVID-19 complications. By not worrying about the gravity of the moment, Towns played with confidence and purpose.
Granted, the Knicks and Towns rightfully won’t make much of this one game alone.
Wembanyama will surely try to adjust just as he did after struggling in the Spurs’ Game 5 loss to the Thunder. Then, Wembanyama posted 20 points while shooting only 4-for-15 from the field and 0-for-5 from deep. Afterwards? Different story. In Game 6, Wembanyama finished with 28 points along with better shooting overall (10-for-21) and from 3 (4-for-9). Wembanyama wrote a similar script in Game 7 with 22 points while shooting 7-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from the perimeter.
