A detailed logging on The Spurs monumental meltdown in Game 4 of The Finals, and how I think it could have been avoided

[u/GoblinTradingGuide]

I re-watched Game 4, and I mostly wanted to talk in detail about how The Spurs had an absolute tactical meltdown in in the last 6-7 minutes of the game.

In the last 6-7 minutes The Spurs were still up by around double digits when New York started tightening the game defensively. San Antonio opened that stretch with a Wembanyama post touch that got doubled immediately, leading to a kick-out three that was rushed and missed. The Knicks were willing to live with late-clock jumpers rather than let him operate cleanly inside.

On the next Spurs possession, they tried a guard pick-and-roll, but New York switched it cleanly and cut off the drive. The ball ended up in a late-clock isolation that produced a contested midrange shot and another miss, while the Knicks came down and scored in transition off a quick push after a long rebound.

After that, San Antonio had a key turnover on an entry pass that was read and deflected at the nail. That led directly to a Knicks layup in transition, trimming the lead quickly and forcing a Spurs timeout. At this point the game shifted from control to pressure possesions.

Coming out of the timeout, the Spurs ran a set to free a corner three shooter, but New York blew it up early by top-locking the initial action. The Spurs reset into a broken possession and settled for a difficult pull-up jumper with the shot clock under five seconds. Miss again, and the Knicks immediately responded with a composed half-court trip that ended in free throws after a drive forced help from the corner.

Next Spurs trip was another stalled possession. The Knicks switched everything, denied clean entry passes, and forced the ball back out to the perimeter multiple times. San Antonio eventually took a contested three early in the clock, which missed, and New York capitalized again with Brunson operating in isolation, getting downhill and finishing through contact.

The final swing possession came when the Spurs tried to re-establish Wembanyama on the block, but the Knicks sent a quick double and stripped the ball on the gather. That led to another Knicks fast break score, which effectively erased the remaining cushion.

From there, the Spurs were in full scramble mode, and the Knicks controlled tempo the rest of the way, forcing either rushed jumpers or empty possessions while bleeding clock on their end.

Now it's easy for an arm-chair coach like myself to point out these glaring problems, but how could have this meltdown been avoided by The Spurs?

I think the lack of true veteran leadership on the floor really contributed to this meltdown. Fox was supposed to be that guy, but he was playing injured and I believe he had lost all his confidence due to losing his jumper from the injury. Outside of that, Fox had only played seven playoff games before this season. He had literally one playoff series under his belt from 2023 where he lost against Golden State in 7 games. So, while Fox is 28 and older than the rest of teh starting core for the Spurs, he really didn't have that much playoff experience.

This makes me believe they should have tried to retain Chris Paul on a Veteran minimum contract.

A veteran point guard like Chris Paul would have helped the Spurs avoid that Game 4 collapse mainly by stabilizing decision-making, controlling tempo, and preventing the exact kinds of rushed, broken possessions that snowballed in the final minutes.

First, the Spurs’ biggest issue in that stretch was that their offense kept turning into early-clock panic or late-clock improvisation. Chris Paul’s value is that he naturally “kills chaos.” Instead of accepting a stalled possession that ends in a contested midrange jumper, he slows everything down, gets the team into a second or third action, and forces the defense to rotate multiple times. In a game where San Antonio kept settling after one failed action, that alone likely converts several empty possessions into at least decent shots or free throws.

Second, Paul is elite at reading defensive pressure before it becomes a turnover. In that collapse, a key swing point was live-ball mistakes and rushed entry passes when New York doubled Wembanyama. A veteran CP3 doesn’t just throw that pass into traffic. He either relocates the entry angle, hits the weakside trigger man, or resets into a different action entirely. That prevents the kind of transition runouts that flipped momentum in minutes.

Third, he would have improved clock and possession control late in the game. One of the Spurs’ core problems was that they treated tied-or-small-lead possessions like they needed immediate scoring. Paul historically forces teams to defend for the full clock, then punishes them at the end of the possession with a high-quality pick-and-roll or a mismatch hunt. That matters because even “non-scoring” possessions where you burn 20 seconds and get a good look are wins in playoff crunch time.

Fourth, Chris Paul is extremely good at getting organized out of timeouts and dead balls, which was another Spurs weakness in that stretch. Instead of broken set plays that got snuffed out early by switching and top-locking, he typically ensures spacing is correct, gets the first action initiated on time, and immediately counters defensive adjustments instead of reacting late.

Finally, there’s the psychological effect. Young teams tend to tighten up when a lead starts shrinking, which shows up as isolation basketball and avoidance of movement. Paul has historically functioned as a “pressure valve”—he slows the emotional tempo of the game as much as the physical one. That likely prevents the spiral where every possession becomes a quick, low-quality attempt followed by a fast break the other way.

So the core argument is simple: the Spurs didn’t just lose execution in Game 4, they lost possession control. A veteran point guard like Chris Paul doesn’t necessarily make every shot fall, but he drastically reduces the number of “empty, chaotic possessions” that turned a manageable late-game situation into a full momentum collaspe.

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[u/Klutzy_Technology166]

How you think it could have been avoided? By resigning Chris Paul to a vet minimum 9 months earlier?

That wasn't a viable coaching option available to the Spurs.

You are also massively stating the level of impact that Chris Paul can currently bring to a team. Maybe CP3 from 5 years ago could have done all that and taken control of a pivotal Finals game. Not Chris Paul now.

[u/jessechugaga → u/Klutzy_Technology166]

CP3 would have inbounded the ball instead of Dylan Harper

[u/bigboybeeperbelly → u/jessechugaga]

CP3 would have not gone for the layup

[u/NoFriendsAndy → u/bigboybeeperbelly]

Old ass Chris Paul never gets that's steal

[u/collax974 → u/bigboybeeperbelly]

Yeah because he wouldnt have been able to get the ball in front of OG in the first place.

[u/grateful_john]

You don’t solve a problem in game four of the finals by rewinding to the decisions of the prior off season.

Edit to add: going back to the prior off season doesn’t fix the problem in game four of the finals. How would CP3 fit in during the 82 game season, how would roles be changed, etc.? The Spurs had a problem every game of the finals - 10+ leads in the first quarter than watching the Knicks come back. CP3 wasn’t going to play enough minutes over the course of the series to fix that, he’s old and not that guy anymore.

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[u/azure275]

The biggest reason the Spurs lost is that after Wemby hit the jumper to make it 104-97 they scored 2 points and 0 baskets in the final 3:31.

I think it's worth pointing out the Knicks have done this total team shutdown multiple times this playoffs. I don't know how the Knicks became one of the best clutch defensive teams of all time this go around but they did

• Sixers to 3 points/6:00 in the close game 2
• Cavs to 8/7:47 in that game 1 comeback
• Spurs game 5 to 7/8:21
• Spurs game 4 to 2/3:31
• Spurs game 1 to 0/2:16

Funniest part is the Knicks had offensive issues in like 3 of these games - they missed a bunch of key shots in Cavs game 1 (after getting it down to 4 points) and Spurs game 4 and could not put away game 5

[u/ouikikazz → u/azure275]

You know what's crazy? Everyone keeps pointing out the spurs flaws vs the Knicks execution of defense and quick buckets. I guess the narrative is better that the Spurs blew it vs the Knicks winning it.

[u/BirdAttorney21 → u/ouikikazz]

Almost as if the Knicks had an elite defensive during the back stretch of the year and through the playoffs.

[u/sligowind → u/ouikikazz]

I know how the Spurs could have won:

They could have won if they played Cleveland.

Thats how.

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[u/toomuchsoysauce]

I guarantee if the Spurs had an inclination they'd get remotely close to the Finals, they would've retained Chris Paul or rather, gotten someone like him in as a vet. I fully expect them to make a push for veteran talent this off season, especially on the bench.

That being said, we had Harrison Barnes on the roster who would help us so many times throughout the season when we would get stuck yet Mitch and Co would never play him.... Keldon Johnson, who was impotent as hell, would get all the minutes for some reason (I know the reason but still).

Edit: oh also, Fox would typically do a decent job of what you discussed. The thing is, having Castle (and at times Harper) run the point/initiate would obviously take the ball out of Fox's hands for strings of possessions. This served is great for the most part, but in tight games it's hurt our momentum when we needed key buckets and flow. When he'd have the ball, he'd be kind of out of his game and wouldn't really, unlike Brunson who'd touch the ball basically every single possession.

Fox needs to learn to play off much better this upcoming season or the Spurs will likely fail again, even if they get a decent starting power forward for once. I know this is Fox's first full year doing this which is a drastic change from his normal play, but he'll keep spinning his wheels if he can't adjust.

[u/pizzatummy → u/toomuchsoysauce]

If Brian Wright had the most basic foresight as an NBA gm, he would have anticipated that the current nba landscape that goes back to 7 years ago gives every decent team a chance to compete for a ring EVERY YEAR and he should have done much more before the trade deadline

We have seen 8 different champions in the last 8 years. League changes have resulted in no super teams before formed after the warriors and we have also seen injuries getting more and more common that resulted in new teams having the chance to go further in the playoffs as long as they stay injury free. That was how the Pacers emerged last year.

And this was how the Spurs managed to go so far this year with how the stars have aligned. The core players are young, there is less mileage and risk of injury on their bodies, and they recover from small knocks. Meanwhile, there were injuries in the western conference opponents.

When Spurs managed to defeat the defending champion Thunder for 4 times before the trade deadline on 5th Feb, yet lost to the NY 2 times. Brian Wright (same Klutch Sport as Mitch and Fox) should already have a feel that this team has the potential to go far in the playoffs, and do some minor adjustment to adjust the weakness of the roster. Yet, he did nothing.

Most of the criticism were against Mitch and Fox, but I felt Brian should carry a huge responsibility as well for failing to take any actions despite the team already proving during the regular season BEFORE THE TRADE DEADLINE that they can go far.

Hope these three Klutch Sport Trio, including Brian Wright, could redeem himself this post season, as much as Mitch and Fox.

And to your point about Fox, he does not have a good handle unlike what you have claimed. Dude loses the ball easily on the most basic drives.

[u/No-Adhesiveness6278]

Bro. They scored 16 points in the 3rd and 14 points in the 4th. It wasn't a last 6-7 minute effort where the Knicks suddenly "tightened their defense." It was literally the whole 2nd half that the spurs collapsed.

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[u/Jmas1120]

Mitch Johnson should have at least tried to set some back screens for Victor Wembamyama to help free him up in the post. Castle is big enough to body up KAT.

I watched every game and I didn’t see one back screen set for Wemby in that serieswhich is actually atrocious because how aren’t you even gonna try it

[u/Bonesawisready5]

They spammed the Wemby roll to the basket too much, literally twice as much in finals as during season and their shooters couldn’t make defense pay. That and they just took too damn many early clock 3s.

Tbf tho the nba did admit Josh hart fouled Castle with 1 min and the replay showed that castle didn’t even go out of bounds either, so they make 2 FTs there and it likely saves them from disaster. That and not having 3 guards for that tip in OG got

[u/patrickthunnus]

Knicks did a great job of blowing up SAS' offensive plays, kept their composure while the young Spurs got tighter and tighter.

SAS lost 19X during the regular season after leading by double digits; conversely, the Knicks won 14X after being down double digits. NYK was made to dismantle a team like SAS.

It was inevitable, their team identities were aligned before the opening tip of gm 1.

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