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The New York Knicks needed a catalyst on the other team to complete their historic comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
They got exactly that in San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson's questionable game management in crunch time. (Well, that and De'Aaron Fox's meltdown in the final minute.)
As the Knicks slowly reeled the Spurs in during the fourth quarter, Johnson called four total timeouts. That's not necessarily unheard of, but it's the separation between each that matters. He called a timeout at the 8:43 mark, at the 4:32 mark, at the 38.8-second mark, and at the 1.2-second mark. It is that gap between 4:32 and 38.8 that is particularly egregious, with the Spurs holding a tenuous 99-95 lead. Instead of taking a timeout to settle his young team down, Johnson elected to let his Spurs players try to play through it. That didn't work. San Antonio lost grip of its offense entirely and scored just 5 points in this four-minute stretch (Stephon Castle scored two more on free throws in the final 38.8 seconds).
The Spurs wound up scoring only 30 total second-half points. They needed a leader!
If there were ever a time to get everyone to just take a deep breath and draw up a cohesive lay, it would've been at any point during that stretch. At any time! Instead, Johnson froze when his players needed him most, and the Knicks did this to the Spurs:
The Spurs aren't done in this series. They've put up a pretty good fight in every game, even in the ones they've lost. But it's gonna take all hands on deck to pull off a legendary 3-1 comeback. That includes Johnson, who needs to be more locked in on pivotal game management like this.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Mitch Johnson called only 1 timeout as Spurs choked Game 4
Continue reading...
They got exactly that in San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson's questionable game management in crunch time. (Well, that and De'Aaron Fox's meltdown in the final minute.)
As the Knicks slowly reeled the Spurs in during the fourth quarter, Johnson called four total timeouts. That's not necessarily unheard of, but it's the separation between each that matters. He called a timeout at the 8:43 mark, at the 4:32 mark, at the 38.8-second mark, and at the 1.2-second mark. It is that gap between 4:32 and 38.8 that is particularly egregious, with the Spurs holding a tenuous 99-95 lead. Instead of taking a timeout to settle his young team down, Johnson elected to let his Spurs players try to play through it. That didn't work. San Antonio lost grip of its offense entirely and scored just 5 points in this four-minute stretch (Stephon Castle scored two more on free throws in the final 38.8 seconds).
The Spurs wound up scoring only 30 total second-half points. They needed a leader!
If there were ever a time to get everyone to just take a deep breath and draw up a cohesive lay, it would've been at any point during that stretch. At any time! Instead, Johnson froze when his players needed him most, and the Knicks did this to the Spurs:
The Spurs aren't done in this series. They've put up a pretty good fight in every game, even in the ones they've lost. But it's gonna take all hands on deck to pull off a legendary 3-1 comeback. That includes Johnson, who needs to be more locked in on pivotal game management like this.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Mitch Johnson called only 1 timeout as Spurs choked Game 4
Continue reading...
