The NBA Finals are finally set; the San Antonio Spurs will face off against the New York Knicks. These two teams have met before in the 1999 NBA Finals as well as this year's NBA Cup Finals.
That means that revenge could be on the mind for both teams. The Knicks are hoping to avenge their 1999 loss, while the Spurs are hoping to avenge their NBA Cup Finals loss.
The Knicks have gotten the better of the Spurs two out of three times this season, but there is a caveat. In the NBA Cup Finals, Victor Wembanyama was on a minutes restriction.
He hyperextended his knee in another Spurs regular-season game with the Knicks, but they rallied to beat New York without him. A healthy Wembanyama changes everything for both the Spurs and Knicks, with San Antonio possibly having already tipped their hand on how they'll defend New York.
The Spurs may have hinted how they'll defend the Knicks
The Silver and Black will likely have Wembanyama spend time guarding Knicks guard Josh Hart. Wemby guarded Hart during the regular season instead of Karl-Anthony Towns.
The idea is for Wemby to be able to help off of Hart and clog the paint. It's an interesting strategy.
It didn't work against the Oklahoma City Thunder, nor did it work in their February loss to the Knicks in New York. However, Hart is shooting just 30.3% from three thus far in the playoffs and less than 40% on corner threes.
If he continues to struggle shooting in the playoffs, it gives the Spurs the perfect opportunity to have Wemby camp out near the rim. However, that is only part of their defensive strategy.
The Spurs must use what they learned from OKC to beat the Knicks
The Spurs have previously employed a switching strategy to keep Towns at bay, according to Sheldon Wohlman of Utility Sports. That could mean De'Aaron Fox gets switched onto Towns and is forced to front him in the post.
That would result in Wembanyama sagging off Hart and providing backside help. Ironically, playing against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have given the Spurs useful experience they can use against the Knicks.
They had Wemby slide over to the weakside and load up on SGA, placing two defenders in between him and the rim. Meanwhile, the other three defenders would essentially play zone, with Wemby somehow being able to do both.
It worked like a charm against OKC. They kept SGA from getting to the rim. Instead, encouraging him to pass and scrambling to open shooters, knowing if they got beat, Wembanyama would still be near the rim.
San Antonio could use a similar strategy against Jalen Brunson. If the Silver and Black can slow down Brunson and Towns and force players such as Hart to beat them, they have a good chance to win their sixth championship.
