The New York Knicks did not overwhelm the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals so much as they slowed them into submission — and on TNT's Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith made that strategic choke-hold the story of the night.
New York's 10-point road win was its seventh straight playoff road victory by double digits, a run the broadcast called unprecedented in NBA history. To Smith, the result was less about talent than tempo. He argued the Knicks deliberately dragged a young, transition-hungry Spurs team into a half-court rock fight where New York's shot-making and shot selection take over.
"I really thought the pace of the game slowed down, and to me that's the advantage of the Knicks," Smith said. "When you're deliberate and you can get the ball to the people that you wanted to in the key moments, they're better."
The flip side, he said, was denying San Antonio the open-floor chaos in which its athletic youngsters thrive.
"When you let San Antonio go up and down because of their youthful exuberance, they can just play park ball and they can be in transition," Smith said. "I would make young players make big decisions, and that's what the Knicks did. They made the young players of the Spurs start to make big decisions on the offensive end."
Shaquille O'Neal framed the win differently — not as a scheme, but as a group effort. He repeatedly credited the Knicks' supporting cast: Josh Hart's 15 rebounds, Landry Shamet's timely first-half threes, Karl-Anthony Towns' 18 points and Jose Alvarado's energy off the bench.
"They did it by effort. A lot of guys played well," O'Neal said. "They did it by committee, and that's how you win championships — by committee."
O'Neal admitted he had reservations about Jalen Brunson heading into the series, wondering how the Knicks' star would fare against San Antonio's long, switchable defenders. Game 1 answered him. Brunson scored 30, with 13 in the fourth quarter as he closed the game out.
"Game 1's always a feel-out game. I was anxious to see how he was going to do against those tough four defenders," O'Neal said. "He just showed me that he's ready for the lights — ready for the big lights."
If there was a Spur who drew praise, it was rookie guard Dylan Harper, whose downhill aggression flashed even in defeat. O'Neal could not resist a nod to his bloodline — Harper is the son of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper.
"How good is this kid, man?" O'Neal said. "He's not as good as his daddy yet, but he's pretty damn good."
The Inside crew agreed on the bottom line, even if they arrived from different angles: New York controlled the terms of the game, leaned on its depth and forced a young Spurs team to win in a style that doesn't yet suit it. Whether San Antonio can speed the series back up — or whether the Knicks can keep slamming the brakes — becomes the defining tension of the Finals.