Despite opening as heavy favorites to win the series, the San Antonio Spurs were unable to keep the New York Knicks from stealing home court advantage. Helping to solidify their 10-point win was guard Jalen Brunson, who dropped 30 points despite sustaining a leg injury early in the game.
Spurs center and the youngest Western Conference Finals MVP ever Victor Wembanyama did not have a similarly excellent game, despite dropping 26 points. Shooting less than 30% from the field and turning the ball over six times, Wemby hindered his team. “I was bad tonight. It’s not more complicated than that.” Wembanyama said after the game.
What Keeps Hindering Victor Wembanyama’s Offense?
Wembanyama’s Struggles With Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns is arguably the number one change between the Knicks losing to the Pacers last year and them winning a historic 12 playoff games in a row this year. New York has freed him from his traditional role as a scoring big man and allowed him to show off his passing skills. Towns’ assist numbers from last year’s postseason to this year’s have jumped from 1.3 to 5.7 per game. For comparison, Brunson, the team’s starting point guard, has averaged only 0.6 more assists.
With five capable ball-handlers on the court, KAT and the Knicks have made scoring easier for everyone. This has helped him free up energy for his defense, which has previously been criticized. He is also Wemby’s primary assignment on defense and Wemby’s primary defender.
Towns’ energy proved to be a problem for Wembanyama, who shockingly wasn’t able to stay in front of Towns on several possessions. The Spurs as a whole struggled with KAT in the pick-and-roll, but Wembanyama seemed especially unprepared to guard him. Wemby was also completely locked down by Towns as he shot 18% with five turnovers when guarded by the six-time All-Star. Wembanyama did not recover offensively until late in the game with highlight plays over Mitchell Robinson.
Is Wembanyama Too Versatile for His Own Good?
Reactions to Wembanyama’s performance varied widely. The “Inside the NBA” team discussed and argued postgame about Wembanyama’s performance. In response to Shaquille O’Neal claiming Wembanyama needed to be more aggressive, Charles Barkley said, “Wemby is not an aggressive player.” The heart of their debate was whether Wembanyama’s failure to score with will in the paint was an issue with attitude or an issue with ability.
Wembanyama was also criticized for taking nine 3-pointers. He only made two. Wemby’s shooting is always a point of contention, but those who have debated the topic have no clear victor (pun intended). For instance, in Wemby’s 35-point playoff debut, he hit five 3-pointers. But in his highest-scoring playoff game, he shot only two threes and hit one of them.
Wembanyama’s dominance depends on his matchups and whether or not he is forcing shots. In Game 1 against the Knicks, the paint was crowded, and Wembanyama took forced shots. Although he was aggressive enough to draw fouls and shot 12 free throws, his offense was stifled within the arc. His go-to move for the night was to post up towards the corner and dribble towards the center of the paint for a fade-away. Despite multiple misses, he kept going to this move until the final buzzer sounded.
This move ended up taking away a lot of his versatility. Earlier in the game, he had an easier time generating looks when he faced his opponents and was able to dictate how they would play defense. He was also able to use his speed better and select easier shots. Wemby switched to backing down his opponents after the Spurs took several leads, likely in an attempt to slow down the game.
If the Spurs and Wembanyama want to have a chance in the series, they have to play with pace throughout the game. Wembanyama has to put himself in positions that don’t limit him and keep him moving. If Wembanyama wants to make trips to the Finals a regular thing, he has to balance the explosive and wide range of offensive potential that his guard skills give him with the dominant paint play that many expect from him. His limitations directly relate to whether he can incorporate both into his game consistently, switching back and forth between jump shots and post moves.
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