The San Antonio Spurs threw away a 29-point lead tonight in Game 4 of the NBA Finals as they lost 106-107 down the stretch of a nail-biting fixture against the New York Knicks.
Even though they did not win tonight, the Spurs players have not lost confidence in their abilities to pull off a win, even after being down 3-1 in the series. Following the game tonight, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, and Keldon Johnson of the Spurs spoke to the media and made some bold claims, respectively.
“We’re all definitely hurt. I mean, we kind of gave the game up. Was up, what, 30? Hurt, I mean, angry. But I mean, I feel like this is all fuel to the fire for us. I think that we’re just going to go out next game with a sense of fire, and we’re just going to focus on game five. I mean, can’t do anything about it now,” said Harper during the postgame press conference.
“A whole new fire, I feel like, is ignited in me, in a sense that we gave that game away. And if we’re going to lose, we’re not going out like that. We’re going to put up a fight. We’re going to keep swinging,” concluded Harper.
The rookie finished the game with 21 points, four rebounds, and three assists while shooting 8-12 from the field (66.7 FG%) and 3-6 from beyond the arc (50.0 3P%). Subsequently, Castle and Johnson spoke to the media in the locker room.
“Coach Mitch said it best, we’ve pretty much dictated the winner and loser of all these games. I think that just finishing games and just trying to maintain our lead has been tough for us,” said Stephon Castle, while suggesting that the Spurs feel they have dictated the momentum in this series despite the losses.
The former Rookie of the Year had 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists at the end of Game 4. He shot 2-7 from the floor (28.6 FG%) and 1-3 from beyond the arc (33.3 3P%) in an inefficient performance.
“We believe, the belief is as high as ever,” Keldon Johnson reportedly said, who finished the game with two points, four rebounds, and one assist (20.0 FG%).
The only team to ever pull off a comeback from this position is the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, who were led by LeBron James in his prime at the time.
Nearly a decade later, the team of the league’s next generational talent, who might even become the face of the league soon, is facing a similar situation, but he or his team is currently not in their prime just yet. But they seem confident that they can still replicate their heroics.
The approach is one game at a time for the Spurs from here as they hope to pull off a miracle to become only the second team in league history to come back from here. But there is another major difference in their circumstances.
No team that ever lost in the first two home games of the NBA Finals has bounced back to win. Even the Cavaliers won one game at home in 2016. So the Knicks have proven that they can handle the hostile atmosphere of the Spurs’ Frost Bank Center twice already in this series.
And now they just need to win one of the next three games to become NBA champions for the first time in the modern era. Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday night, June 13. It will be interesting to see how the Spurs fight with their backs against the wall and their season on the line.
