NBA Finals Game 4 takeaways: Jose Alvarado, tired Wemby, OG's heater and a comeback for the ages

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NBA Finals Game 4 takeaways: Jose Alvarado, tired Wemby, OG’s heater and a comeback for the ages originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The first three games of the Finals have all come down to the last few minutes. The Knicks weren’t going to let a measly 29-point deficit in the third quarter stand in the way of that.
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New York pulled off the craziest upset in Finals history, storming all the way back to take a 107-106 victory and a 3-1 lead in a game where their biggest lead was one point.
The focus was on the officiating, Victor Wembanyama’s flagrant foul, and the Spurs’ lights-out shooting, until none of that mattered.
This game will be remembered for San Antonio’s epic collapse, which may have just cost them the championship. Here’s how it happened.
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It may seem a bit odd to lead this column with a reserve who put up an unassuming stat line of eight points in 16 minutes. But Mike Brown closing with Alvarado instead of Mikal Bridges was a gamble that paid off massively.
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Alvarado is a frenetic ball of energy and has been completely unafraid of the moment. The Spurs were trying to hide Wemby on him on defense to allow the big man to stay parked in the paint. Alvarado wouldn’t let that happen, moving constantly and hitting huge buckets.
Alvarado hit all three of his buckets in the fourth, including two threes and a layup that he sneaked in when Wemby’s back was turned. He also chipped in three assists. The 6-foot guard took down Goliath.
Alvarado’s play was so effective in part because of how little Wembanyama had left in the tank. He averaged just 29.2 minutes during the regular season. The Spurs have ramped that up for obvious reasons in the playoffs, and they rode him the hardest they have in this series as their lead slipped away.
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Wemby logged 44 minutes in Game 4, his most outside of his 49 minutes in a double-overtime victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. He played the final 17 minutes without a substitution and 29 of the last 30 minutes. He was missing plays he normally makes.
Wemby had been getting breathers in fourth quarters from free throws and challenges. That didn’t happen on Wednesday. Mitch Johnson was judicious with his timeouts, calling only one between the eight and four minute mark as the Knicks closed the lead from 15 points down to four.
The fatigue showed up during those last eight minutes. Wemby looked a half step slow defensively, barely missing closeouts that he would have made earlier in the game. And he uncharacteristically missed both his free throws with under two minutes remaining.
On offense, Wembanyama wasn’t a presence. He took only two shots during that span: a jumper just inside the 3-point line set out of timeout and another one with three minutes remaining.
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Wembanyama wasn’t getting deep catches due to a combination of the Knicks’ physicality and the Spurs not doing a good job of running plays to get him better positioning. The Spurs didn’t have anyone else who could pick up the slack.
The focus will be about Wemby, but the trio of Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and De’Aaron Fox had some bad mistakes in those last eight minutes.
Castle lost track of the clock and barely got a shot up that didn’t hit the rim. Harper made a bad overhelp on a drive, allowing the hottest shooter of the game in Anunoby an open corner 3. Harper then threw the ball away on a desperation pass when he had timeouts to use.
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Fox was the worst of the three. The Spurs were having extreme difficulty breaking the paint as their offense collapsed in the second half. A lot of that was on him.
Fox saved his worst for last. He had the gaffe of the game, an inexplicable layup attempt when dribbling the ball out and getting fouled would have likely sealed a win for the Spurs.
Anunoby won’t win Finals MVP, but he should get some consideration. His defense has been outstanding, as evidenced by that block on Fox. And he’s been one of the hottest jump shooters in the playoffs. He continued that in Game 4, going 7-of-9 from 3.
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His biggest shot was of course his tip-in to win the game.
The Spurs almost pulled it off at the very end. With 1.2 seconds left and down 107-106, everyone in the building knew that the ball was going to go to Wemby, probably for a lob attempt. Mitchell Robinson was going to stay glued to him in order to prevent that from happening.
That opened up a lob play for Stephon Castle, who was wide open coming off Wembanyama’s rip screen. It was a brilliant play design by Johnson, using Wemby as a decoy. Towns saved the day by getting a hand on what would otherwise have been a wide open layup for the game-winner.
LeBron James’ 2016 Cavs are the only team to have come back from a 3-1 deficit. They needed a Draymond Green suspension in order to do it. With Wemby only one flagrant foul away from his own suspension, the Spurs aren’t going to get that kind of good fortune.
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This series isn’t over, but it completely shifted after this game. The Spurs would have been in the driver’s seat, regaining home court advantage. Instead, they’ll need a miracle stretch.

NBA Finals Game 4 takeaways: Jose Alvarado, tired Wemby, OG&#39;s heater and a comeback for the ages

NBA Finals Game 4 takeaways: Jose Alvarado, tired Wemby, OG's heater and a comeback for the ages