New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-89: Now, THAT’S championship defense

The New York Knicks took down the San Antonio Spurs, 114-89. The Knicks’ defense held San Antonio to a season-low scoring total.

The Knicks trailed early, unable to make shots. But their defense kept the Spurs from building much of a lead, and a run from Jalen Brunson gave New York the lead by the end of the first quarter.

Once the offense got rolling, the Knicks never looked back. Their defense shut down San Antonio, and they outscored the Spurs in each quarter. If New York defends like this, it can beat any team in the league.

Let’s celebrate New York’s best defensive performance of the season by checking out the player notes.

While the Knicks played quality defense all game, their offense sputtered out the gate. Jalen Brunson scored 11 consecutive points to spark the team, and the rest is history. The Captain guided New York through its slow start.

Brunson led the offense throughout the action. But his big first quarter was the standout moment, because the team cruised through the rest of the action.

Mikal Bridges is the Player of the Game hands down, leading New York in scoring and playing the best defense on the team. He stuck to his opportunistic approach on offense, but never hesitated to take shots in space. So, his assist tally dips, but his scoring flies for a change.

New York manufactured chaos in the passing lanes, and Bridges led the way. His on-ball defense was strong, but his frequent steals from shooting through the weak side to pick off passes shone even more.

On most nights, I’d be frustrated that Karl-Anthony Towns only took nine shots. But with Wembanyama cheating into the paint, there weren’t as many opportunities for KAT to post up smaller defenders. Instead, Towns was best served diving into space when Wemby’s man shot the ball. If Wemby got pulled from the paint, Towns was free to feast on the offensive glass.

So, KAT didn’t pour in the points, and he played a more passive role on offense. But his impact was far greater thanks to his presence inside. He gave Wembanyama fits at both ends.

The Spurs tried to defend Mohamed Diawara like they did Josh Hart. They put bigs on him, who sank into the paint as help defenders. Diawara shot over and over, making enough threes to punish San Antonio for giving him the space.

On top of scoring a point per minute, Mo played outstanding defense for most of the action. His two-way impact made him the best player off New York’s bench.

The biggest impact OG Anunoby had on this game isn’t captured by statistics. OG spent chunks of the game defending Victor Wembanyama as effectively as anyone could ask for.

That doesn’t mean OG didn’t score. In fact, his jumper fueled most of his scoring which is a welcome sight.

The Spurs didn’t defend Josh Hart, leaving him plenty of space to shoot or attack. Hart’s jumper struggled, but he found success when he began attacking the paint. The Spurs kept his efficiency down, but Hart hustled his way to rebounds and assists that kept the momentum.

If only the Knicks could play like that every night. I’ve seen it enough to feel confident that the down nights and tough games can be overcome. The Knicks didn’t have great regular-season records against the teams they beat in last year's playoffs.

But I don’t like the idea of a team that “turns it on” when they’re up for a big game. I find that particularly frustrating when the team has completely bailed on important games. They just flopped against Detroit when Mike Brown himself called the game important.

So, I’m happy with the Knicks’ progress and confident they’re a genuine contender. But I’m still a postseason letdown away from wanting the roster reshaped for consistency. I’ll see you next time, Knicks’ fam!