SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama’s raw counting stats from his NBA Finals debut were impressive: 26 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Only three players ever put up those three numbers in their first Finals game and all are Hall of Famers and legends: Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Elvin Hayes.
Wemby’s numbers were a mirage.
Anyone who watched the game knows the truth: Wembanyama did not have a sparkling NBA Finals debut.
• He was pressing when it was a clutch game late. He wanted so badly to make the big play — like his 3-pointer against Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the last round — that he took ill-advised hero-ball shots that not only were off the mark but also hurt the Spurs, who did not explore better matchups and opportunities.
• Wembanyama shot 6-of-21 from the floor (he did most of his damage at the free throw line).
• Wemby had six turnovers and kept trying to put the ball on the floor and dribble through and around Knicks defenders, too often getting stripped.
• New York scored 50 points in the paint, an area Wemby normally owns. New York had a plan where shooters took jump shots contested by Wembanyama, pulling him out of the paint, then Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart (among other Knicks) did a fantastic job of sliding into the space vacated by Wemby to get the offensive rebound and score. New York scored 23 points on offensive rebounds in Game 1.
“I was bad tonight. It’s not more complicated than that,” Wembanyama said after the loss.
Despite the Game 1 loss, Wembanyama was calm on Thursday. He appeared relaxed after having had time to watch and digest the firm from Game 1. His easy confidence was back.
Which is not how he played in crunch time of Game 1. Wembanyama, trying to force things, trying too hard to be the man and make the big play in the clutch, was one of the few signs we have seen from him that this is his first deep playoff run. It’s a tough line to walk, to find that balance between imposing your will and taking what the defense and the game give you as an elite player.
“It comes with experience,” Karl-Anthony Towns said of walking that line. “I’ve been in playoff series where I’ve done too much, and it was a detriment to the team; and I’ve been in playoff series where I’ve done too little, and it was a detriment to the team.
“It’s a fine line. It comes with experience where you learn what truly is best for the team and being able to find that balance of being aggressive and impacting the game with your skill set, but also utilizing that skill set to make others better. Something that experience has taught me. I think right now, I’m doing the best I’ve done at it.”
Spurs need to be “normal”
Less than 24 hours later, Wembanyama did not seem rattled by being outplayed for a night by Karl-Anthony Towns. For much of the season, Wemby has sounded (and played) more like a veteran than a third-year player, and that presence was back on the podium Thursday. He sounded like a guy who had the answers to the test.
“Really, I think the reason we lost that game isn’t even technical. It’s not even technical, tactical,” Wembanyama said. “We need to approach the game with a better mental state. We just need to play our game. We just need to be normal.”
What is being “normal” for these young Spurs?
“‘Normal’ 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,” Wembanyama said. “We’ve been playing a certain way all season. We’ve been successful this way. There’s no reason to change the day the Finals start.”
Put in more traditional terms, Wembanyama and the Spurs think they just need to make the play-better adjustment: Don’t be sped up by the Knicks’ defense, move the ball better (just 16 assists), and shoot better than 25.6% from 3-point range.
All much easier said than done against a Knicks team that has won a dozen games in a row and is playing with supreme confidence. Whatever the adjustments, the Spurs need to play better in Game 2 because if they drop the first two at home, this quickly becomes too deep a hole to climb out of.
And that Game 2 turnaround has to start with Wembanyama playing better.
