NBA Finals Game 3 live takeaways: Spurs start strong, Knicks battle back

For the Knicks, it was defense that sparked the runs. They used their length and athleticism to make drives difficult. And then, once the Spurs crept toward the paint, New York did a better job of collapsing on help defense; the Spurs shot just 9-of-20 (45.0%) from the field in the second quarter, compared to New York’s blistering 14-of-19 (73.7%) period.

Not surprisingly, that defense turned into fast break opportunities, with the Knicks claiming a 9-0 edge in the stat at the half.

After settling for too many jumpers in Games 1 and 2, San Antonio attacked the paint. New York adjusted

The Spurs, very clearly, did not want to leave things to chance. After coach Mitch Johnson had defended his team’s shot selection in the first two games of the series, bemoaning open looks that simply didn’t drop, the Spurs got to work down low Monday night.

And it started with Victor Wembanyama, whose first 4 shot attempts were in the paint, with three of those coming at the rim.

It wasn’t only Wembanyama. The Spurs constantly attacked the paint, asking guards De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harpers to wriggle and slash past New York defenders to finish at the rim.

It paid off. After scoring just 22 points in the paint in the first half of Game 2, the Spurs dropped 28 down low in the first half of Game 3. The problem was that 16 of those came in the first quarter.

For the Spurs to have a chance to steal this game, not only will they need to be intentional about their attacks into the paint, they need to convert them when they got good looks.