For much of the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the New York Knicks were beating themselves. San Antonio raced out in transition, the Knicks piled up fouls, and head coach Mike Brown admitted the bench — himself included — spent too much energy arguing with the officials instead of playing. The fix, by his own account, came from an unlikely source: assistant coach Rick Brunson, the father of Knicks star Jalen Brunson.
"We were all bitching too much at the officials," Brown said after New York's 105-95 road win. "Rick Brunson was great. He told me to be quiet, and he told the rest of the team to be quiet — leave the officials alone. It helped us put our energy elsewhere, especially in the second half."
That redirected focus showed up most clearly in transition defense, which Brown identified as the single biggest swing in the game. San Antonio scored 24 fast-break points in the first half and just nine in the second.
"In the first half they kicked our behind in transition," Brown said. "We can't buddy run, because they have quick, athletic players. We did a better job of getting back. We got to load."
The Knicks also leaned on the offensive glass to compensate for a cold shooting night, converting second chances into a decisive edge.
"Getting 23 second-chance points compared to their 14 was big," Brown said, "especially with the amount of free throws that they had compared to ours. We had to find other ways to score."
When the game tightened in the fourth quarter, Brown went where he has gone all postseason — to Jalen Brunson, who scored 30 despite getting banged up early and briefly retreating to the locker room.
"He was the MVP in the second half," Brown said. "He did what MVP candidates are supposed to do. We put the ball in his hands. We said we were going to live and die with him, and he went and got it done for us. He went to his bag tonight and got it done."
Brown was just as effusive about Karl-Anthony Towns, whose double-double and physical defense on Wembanyama anchored both ends.
"He was amazing," Brown said of Towns. "The double-double was huge. He's a problem. You put a small guy on him, he's got a chance to offensive rebound. You put a big guy on him, he's got a chance to pick and pop and go around guys."
The coach repeatedly framed the win as a teaching tool rather than a statement, noting his team did not feel it had played well even in victory. Asked what fuels New York's habit of erasing big deficits — the Knicks were also down double digits in their series opener against Cleveland — Brown kept it simple.
"These guys are resilient, man. They get better as the game goes along," he said. "Anything can happen in a 48-minute game as long as you stay the course."
