The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs four games to one last night, overcoming multiple double-digit deficits along the way. While much of New York City and New Jersey celebrate the Knicks’ extinguishing New York’s long title drought across the Big Four sports leagues (stretching back to the Giants in 2011), Rutgers nation can take pride in seeing one of their own step up big time for the Spurs. Dylan Harper not only played extensive minutes, but he looked like the best Spur on the court for large parts of this series.
Despite coming off the bench the entire series, Harper averaged 18 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. As the series got better, so did the rookie out of Rutgers, with his crowning performance coming in an elimination Game 5 at home. Harper led the team with 25 points while also contributing 5 rebounds and 4 assists while playing 31 minutes off the bench.
While much of the team struggled, including De’Aaron Fox throughout the series, Harper stepped up in clutch moments and time again. His crafty finishing around the rim caught the eyes of fans nationwide, while his tenacious defending made things difficult for New York throughout the series. He was the second-leading scorer behind Victor Wembanyama in the NBA Finals as a rookie while coming off the bench, which says just about everything you need to know about his career trajectory
If there is one area where the budding star guard could improve, it would be his three-point shooting. Harper got off to a slow start from deep this series, scoring 16 points in Game 1 on 1-4 from downtown. In Game 2, he missed all three attempts from deep while finishing with 15 points, before going 1-8 from long range during Game 3 at MSG. Coincidentally, that was the lone game the Spurs were able to win over the eventual champion Knicks.
Some of those threes were wide open as well, which made me think about just how good Harper could be if he had even a respectable three-point jump shot. In Game 4, Harper went 8-12 from the field and converted 3 of 6 threes, coming up with 21 points despite the Spurs blowing an unfathomable 29-point lead, the largest in Finals history. Due to the catastrophic loss, San Antonio went from a possible 2-2 tied series to trailing New York 3-1 as the series returned to Texas.
In Game 5, Harper put it all together when his team needed it most. On a night where starting guards Stephon Castle (1-10) and De’Aaron Fox (3-15) combined for 13 points on horrifically poor shooting, the New Jersey native came off the bench and dropped 25 points. As in Game 4, this time he cashed in on two of four from downtown while continuing to play aggressive defense, getting stops and forcing a backcourt violation.
Despite this, Harper was relegated to the bench for some of the game’s most important swings, including when the Knicks roared back yet again. When the Spurs rookie returned to the floor, the Knicks were trailing, and Harper was unable to hit the game-tying layup.
With San Antonio then trailing by three, Landry Shamet fouled Harper off an inbounds pass to prevent a three-point shot attempt, and Harper missed both free throws; the second one may have been an intentional miss. But none of that takes away from the series he had and the poise he showed as a rookie under pressure.
During the Spurs’ postgame press conference, Devin Vassell told reporters, “I know that he’s gonna put so much work into the offseason. It’s not just offensively, but defensively, he’s made a lot of plays. He’s grown so much. And was he 20, 21 years old? I mean, the sky’s the limit for him.”
With De’Aaron Fox going 24-70 from the field and contributing to some of the most head-scratching moments for the Spurs, many fans and analysts see him being traded this offseason, possibly to the Nets. Even if not, it will be hard to see how Harper does not crack the starting lineup next season after outproducing both Castle and Fox, all while coming off the bench in basketball’s biggest stage.
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