SAN ANTONIO — This is Wemby’s World, to be sure.The city, the franchise, its stellar history and fan base — they all now move to Victor Wembanyama’s syncopation, as they all should. The music and chanting and everything that transpires at Frost Bank Center for the home team — along with, again, the winning — is Wemby-centric. The Spurs will not win the NBA championship over a gritty and grimy New York Knicks team if Wembanyama doesn’t play otherworldly basketball, as he has throughout this season and the first three rounds of the playoffs.He did not in Game 1.But the Spurs also won’t win if they don’t put more faith — and, the ball — in the hands of their two capable point guards, rookie Dylan Harper and veteran De’Aaron Fox, down the stretch. It’s not an either-or. It’s a calibration to make sure the offense is initiated in the best way to manipulate the Knicks’ defense.Wednesday, San Antonio’s late-game offense ground to a halt. Wembanyama, being Wembanyama, still made a few incredible plays, including an uber-physical and-1 over Karl-Anthony Towns with 3:24 left. Two Wemby free throws a little more than a minute later gave San Antonio a 95-94 lead, but the Spurs didn’t score in the final 2:16 of play in a 105-95 loss.The Spurs’ ball movement, one of their trademarks all season, ground to a halt as Wembanyama tried to challenge the Knicks’ loaded-up defense. Part of that stemmed from the Spurs not being able to get out in transition, as they had in the first half, but the fourth quarter was also one where the Spurs needed Fox’s trips into the paint and Harper’s amazing-for-a-rookie poise around the basket more than they needed Wembyanama looking to attack off the dribble.The Spurs scored 27 points in the first 10 and a half minutes of Game 1, getting all manner of great looks. They managed just 68 points in the final 37:30 of play. San Antonio, as it has done at times this season, sat Harper on the bench down the stretch, subbing out of the game for good with 4:04 left in the fourth in favor of Devin Vassell.“Dylan did not finish the game by nothing he did or did not do,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Thursday. “It was a decision I made. I understand that there would be logic in having Dylan in that group. I thought that group that was out there did some things during that stretch, and that’s what I rolled with.”The Spurs have also played Harper, Stephon Castle and Fox together in crunch-time lineups during the postseason, so it’s not like putting the rock in one of Harper’s or Fox’s hands would be new. And Harper, the second pick in last year’s draft, has been more than credible in his NBA postseason debut, including scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, along with 8 rebounds, in 27 minutes off the bench in Game 1.“I feel like everyone wants to be out there in those times and close the game out,” Harper said Thursday. “But, I mean, we won 62 games, we made it this far. So I’m going to keep on trusting the coaching staff, trusting Mitch, and just having that trust that they know what’s best for the team. And if they think that’s the best thing for the team and helps us win the most, then I’m all for it.”
Spurs must trust Dylan Harper or De’Aaron Fox with the ball down the stretch
Victor Wembanyama is the Spurs' best player, but Game 1 showed the team functions better when their guards are their playmakers.















