BBNBA Finals Preview: 3 former Wildcats make up a must-watch series between Knicks and Spurs

by: Zack Geoghegan23 hours agoZGeogheganKSR

For the eighth straight season, we’ll have a different franchise crowned champions of the NBA — extending the league’s longest-ever streak. No matter which team comes out on top, a former Wildcat will help raise the trophy.

Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks are the Eastern Conference representatives. Coming into the playoffs as the 3-seed with high expectations all season long, New York cruised through the East. After going down 2-1 in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks have gone on a historic postseason run, winning 11 straight games with a pair of sweeps mixed in. Granted, the East wasn’t as strong as what was happening out West, but New York was smashing their opponents. Every starter and rotational player has been producing at a high level. This is a veteran group that reached the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago. The moment shouldn’t be too bright.

On the other side, De’Aaron Fox, Keldon Johnson, and the San Antonio Spurs just barely made it out of the Western Conference alive. Injuries played a factor in their run, but everyone is at least on the court and able to play. Taking down the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games proved that this young group is far ahead of schedule and more than capable of winning it all. Victor Wembanyama, only 22 years old, is already on pace to be one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen.

This is New York’s first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, when they lost to this very same Spurs franchise in five games. The Knicks haven’t won a title since 1972. Meanwhile, San Antonio is searching for its sixth NBA Finals victory and first since 2014. Some remember that these two teams met back in the NBA Cup championship earlier this season, a game that went to New York.

Now we get them going head-to-head for an entire series. We need seven games of this. The biggest market in the league taking on the new face of the league should create plenty of drama and high-level hoops. Let’s quickly touch on the three Wildcats in this series and how they’ve performed to this point.

Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK)

There aren’t many hoopers who deserve this opportunity more than Karl-Anthony Towns. He’s often the butt of jokes on social media, but the city of New York has fully embraced Big KAT. It helps that he’s playing great basketball at the perfect time. While his scoring numbers have dipped compared to the offseason, his efficiency and playmaking have skyrocketed. He’s become a plus on defense, too.

Towns is averaging 16.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals in 30.2 minutes per outing across 14 playoff games. His shooting splits are absurd: 57.2 percent from the field, 48.9 percent from deep, and 89.1 percent from the free-throw line. The seven-footer has nine double-doubles and three triple-doubles. The fouls are still a bit of an issue, but not nearly as much as normal. He’s yet to foul out of a game this postseason.

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His Finals matchup against the Spurs will be interesting. Does he spend time guarding Wembanyama? That feels like a task better suited for Mitchell Robinson, who is dealing with a broken pinky finger but expects to be ready to play, or possibly OG Anunoby. But Towns will have his chance to defend Wemby for stretches. The offensive matchup will be equally as interesting. Wemby was allowed to play free safety against the Thunder because of Chet Holmgren’s offensive struggles. That could happen again if the Spurs put him on Josh Hart. Towns has to be aggressive in this series by putting pressure on Wemby in the paint and taking him out to the three-point line.

De’Aaron Fox (SAS)

No one makes more money on this Spurs roster than De’Aaron Fox. And while he’s not the best player on the roster (he might be the fourth-best at this point), he’s necessary to success. When Fox missed the first two WCF games due to an ankle injury — which he’s still dealing with — the Spurs, particularly Stephon Castle, were a turnover machine. Those numbers went down quickly once he returned. Fox helps stabilize the offense as one of the few veterans on this roster. For this playoff run, he’s been worth the high-dollar contract.

Fox admittedly hasn’t shot the ball well these playoffs. He’s at 43.5 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from deep through 16 games. But again, he’s not out there to go get buckets, although he’s still hit a few clutch ones. The Spurs have plenty of guards and wings that can do that. Fox is averaging 5.9 assists to just 1.8 turnovers per game in the postseason as a full-time starter. He’s crafty enough on defense to steal his team an extra couple of possessions each game. San Antonio is a +7.6 plus/minus when Fox is on the floor in the playoffs. He wanted out of Sacramento to win, and now he’s only four more victories away from a title.

Keldon Johnson (SAS)

The cowboy hat-wearing Keldon Johnson has seen his role reduced from the regular season to the postseason. The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year has been mostly up-and-down during his first-ever playoff run, but he’s had big moments throughout. In Game 7 against the Thunder, he drilled a couple of massive three-pointers in the fourth quarter that kept the Spurs in front. He’s hit double-figures in seven of his 18 games played this postseason.

Johnson is averaging 8.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per game off the bench in the playoffs. He’s shooting 41.7 percent from the field, but a very solid 36 percent from deep on 2.8 attempts. The Spurs have basically gone with an eight-man rotation so far, with Johnson serving as the seventh piece. He’ll have a tough task defensively in the Finals, whether he’s guarding Anunoby or Mikal Bridges. If he can play steady defense, work his ass off like he normally does, and come up with a timely bucket here and there, we’ll be seeing plenty of Johnson in the Finals.