Despite being up double digits in all five of their NBA Finals games, the San Antonio Spurs fell to the New York Knicks 4-1. As both teams exchanged shots at the charity stripe, Knicks forward OG Anunoby knocked down the final free throws, winning Game 5 for the Knicks. The Knicks won by four points, and now they are crowned NBA champions.
Naturally, there are many positives for the Spurs to focus on as they head into this off-season. A young team that is way ahead of schedule will have the chance to run it back with largely the same roster in 2027. However, when breaking down the game film, San Antonio clearly has certain recurring defensive shortcomings that the Knicks exploited. Their poor defense prevented the Spurs from doing the impossible, finding a way to come back in the series.
So, how was defense the thing that lost the Spurs this NBA Finals series?
The San Antonio Spurs’ Defense May Have Cost Them The NBA Finals
Holes To Patch
Despite being the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama‘s contributions alone were not enough to offset the Spurs’ inconsistent team defense. Notable issues that the Spurs have include defensive communication, switching on pick-and-roll actions, and indecisiveness in situations where San Antonio should have been more aggressive.
After the first half of Game 2, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson made a small defensive adjustment that opened up Wembanyama’s strengths. Rather than having the French big man play defense exclusively on Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, Wembanyama would guard one of the corners instead. Often drifting away from his main assignment in the corner to help curb drives as the defense collapsed in, this arrangement also made it possible for Wembanyama to close out and contest effectively whenever necessary.
However, the same couldn’t be said about the rest of the team’s defense. In Game 1, rather than hedging Knicks guard and Finals MVP Jalen Brunson to the half-court line as the Knicks ran a high pick-and-roll action, Spurs center Luke Kornet decided to guard the play by falling back into drop coverage. However, since the play was run at half court, Brunson had more than enough room to keep his dribble alive. Taking advantage of his slow-footed opponent, Brunson drove and kicked the ball out for a three by Knicks guard Landry Shamet.
In Game 5, rather than switching cleanly in high pick-and-roll situations, there was a lack of communication between the two Spurs guards involved in the action. This led to Brunson blowing by for an easy layup. Later on in Game 5, in another half-court, guard-to-guard pick-and-roll action, Spurs guard Dylan Harper was the one who didn’t hedge to try and force a back-court violation. As a result, Brunson used his explosive first step to go downhill and get a practically wide-open layup, en route to the Knicks’ 16-point comeback.
The Spurs are affected notably in pick-and-roll actions, even when they happen near half-court. The Knicks took advantage of the Spurs’ confusion and inconsistency in guarding these actions to get easy points.
The Spurs’ defense in the gaps is hesitant and not aggressive enough. San Antonio was caught in many situations where a player stunting the ball handler would prevent them from going downhill. However, the Spurs’ players were more often than not ball-watching rather than taking any action to break down the Knicks’ plays.
This ties back to the Spurs’ players notably failing to keep their eyes on their defensive assignments. This often leads to backdoor cuts and, in other situations, lightly contested looks from three that New York is capable of making.
The Spurs are also hesitant in situations where they set traps or double teams, as they did not always fully commit to the coverage. Rather than both players closing out at the same time to trap a Knicks player between the sideline and baseline, the second defender, in some cases Wembanyama, was notably a step behind their teammates. This lack of aggressiveness gave the Knicks’ ball handlers more options to reset the offense in such situations. For example, this would allow them to pass the ball out to the middle of the floor.
Last Word On Spurs’ Defense In The 2026 NBA Finals
Despite this Finals series appearing to be a fairly one-sided gentleman’s sweep at first glance, the 2026 NBA Finals were anything but one-sided. A thrilling five-game series, its close games were won by even closer margins. For the Knicks, they get to savor their first Finals victory in 53 years. The Spurs returned to the NBA Finals triumphantly, and yet they will leave the series with questions on the table about their defense.
Featured Image: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images
