I hope they either did a team meeting after the game or do one today, but this team needs to be prepared for what’s coming the next few games. Things should be clear to them now:
1. You won’t get a fair whistle- The Spurs are getting away with illegal shoving and tackling, but everybody can see it. Still, they have won because they keep their composure and run their offense while they are smart on their defense. While I do believe that one or two players need to come into the game just to shove and tackle Wemby, Kornet, Castle and Bryant, they need to do it smartly. For the rest of the defense? No more tacky fouls, either hit them hard with intention or avoid the contact and the whistle. Hart was steamrolled by Kornet and his reaction was weak and unfocused. They will hit you, get them back later on a play, don’t give them a reason to be called for a technical. Brunson has been shoved all series long, but the Wemby one today was embarrassing. Still, stay in the game and get them back later. The Knicks reverted a bit to their “complaining about the refs” mode and that just won’t work. The Spurs and the refs have stated their gameplan, but we are smarter than what we showed today.
2. Need to take the open shot when it’s there- The Spurs are over helping and rotating to every of our shots, basically half doubling us. A split second open shot is better than an extra pass that leads to a penetration with Wemby following behind. KAT sometimes needs to take the shot instead of hesitating to pass and allowing the Spurs defense to keep rotating until Wemby comes in.
3. Even so, keep passing and keep KAT involved- Offense still looks better when we keep passing. Lately we’ve reverted to isolations from Brunson or sometimes even Mikal, but that’s falling into the Spurs trap. Worst, we sometimes consciously go away from KAT and I just don’t understand why? I get the Spurs are making it personal with Brunson and I’ve noticed during this run that whenever an opposing team does that, Brunson takes it personal. While it might be tough, the last laugh is the win, so Brunson needs to keep the offense going through KAT and avoid the hero ball.
I’m still furious about this game. This was unfair, irresponsible and downright stupid how the refs let the Spurs play. But what shocked me the most is that we couldn’t read it and compose ourselves accordingly. I get that it must be so frustrating, especially for Brunson, who is getting destroyed while he gets no whistle. But we win if we play our game. We need to be smart about what they are doing because they won’t stop. The NBA has decided they will let the Spurs shove us at will and call the game unevenly. But even with that, we tied the game many times, we went on runs and built leads, so it’s still possible to win this even with the Spurs and the refs playing dirty. But we have to be smarter than we were last night.
6/9/2026 8:41 AM