If it feels like you’re hearing about Victor Wembanyama’s shot diet after every game in these Finals, well, that’s because you are. It’s that important. When Wemby operates primarily in the paint, the Spurs tend to win. They won Monday’s Game 3 to make it a 2-1 Knicks lead in this series, and not coincidentally, Wembanyama had his most productive paint outing, scoring 32 points overall on 11-of-18 shooting.
Through the first two games of the series, Wembanyama took 20 shots inside the paint and 22 outside the paint, but the trend started moving more to the interior in the second half of Game 2, and it continued in Game 3, when 13 of those 18 shots came from inside the paint. Most of them were at or near the rim.
How did it happen? For starters, Wemby was intent on getting down there. Second, you have to wonder if Karl-Anthony Towns is getting a little tired from fighting Wembanyama off those low spots all series, and how much that fatigue factor may or may not have to do with Towns not scoring a single fourth-quarter point in this series yet.
Also credit Spurs coach Mitch Johnson for some creative schemes to assist in the matter, too. Through the first two games of this series, the Spurs were more or less allowing Jalen Brunson to hang out on the weak side as Julian Champagnie (or some other non-initiator) effectively served as a floor spacer.
Bucket No. 1: In Game 3, Johnson was more concentrated on forcing Brunson into the actions by using his man as a screener — as was the case on Wemby’s first bucket.
As you can see, the Spurs had Wemby set a ball screen on Josh Hart, which left Towns to switch onto Castle, and then coming up right behind was Champagnie with a back screen on Hart, leaving Brunson as the only guy between Wemby and the basket.
This initial roll didn’t yield a Wemby touch, but it served as a conveyor belt to shuttle him down to the rim without having to fight through a maze of stronger bodies. That’s the first victory for the Spurs here. Just getting Wemby near the rim, which he isn’t always strong enough to do on his own. Once he’s down there, then a De’Aaron Fox drive sucks Towns up as a shot blocker and Wemby is free on the backside for the dunk.
Bucket No. 2: Brunson is again put in the ball screen. San Antonio knows Hart is going to fight to get back on Castle as Brunson recovers back to Champagnie, so here comes Wemby running interference on Hart before slipping downhill. With Towns lifted and ready to show on Castle, it’s another free path to the rim — where the last line of defense is a helpless 6-foot-7 OG Anunoby.
Bucket No. 3: The Spurs run another double-drag set with Wembanyama and Champagnie, who, stop me if you have heard this before, brings Brunson with him. The screens are set at half-court, and since the Knicks have, for whatever reason, decided to have Towns show out that high, Brunson is left as the only guy to stop Wemby from another free roll to the paint. That’s not going to happen. Brunson goes full matador waving Wemby through, and poor Anunoby is once again the sacrificial lamb at the rim.
Bucket No. 4: Any time Wemby can catch and attack before the defense is set, either in transition or even just early offense, it’s a good thing. Here he catches on the wing, and when Landry Shamet closes out to him (which he should not have done so recklessly; the Knicks would live with Wemby firing up a quick 3), with the corner empty and thus no help defender to pinch down on his path, he has a runway to the rim. He gladly takes it.
Toward the end of the first half, the Knicks opted to play without a center. Wemby did not let them off the hook. Anunoby was on him, which is a fine matchup for the Knicks if it stays on the perimeter, but when Wemby sets the ball screen on Mikal Bridges and seals him to the low side for a clean roll to the rim, there is no big man on the back end to do anything about the impending alley-oop.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Spurs hit Wemby for another alley-oop. They station him at the top of the circle and space the floor in such a way that the low man is Shamet (6-foot-5). From there, Wemby plays on Towns anticipating a ball screen and cuts behind him sharply enough to not allow Jose Alvarado time to pinch down from the wing on his path.
This could have been a set play based on the coverage or an improv backdoor from Wemby. Either way, it’s the combination of the Spurs setting up their possessions with proper spacing and multi-layered actions to provide their best player easy access to his most optimal scoring spots, and then Wemby being in the mindset to take advantage and impose the leverage he inherently carries by being the tallest player by a wide margin.
As the series has progressed, Wembanyama has become increasingly concentrated on stationing himself closer and closer to the basket, and unsurprisingly, his efficiency has skyrocketed. Take a look at these numbers or Wembanyama’s average shot distance through the first three games, and his corresponding eFG%, courtesy of Adam Mares and Tim Legler’s ALL NBA podcast (a great follow, by the way).
This isn’t rocket science, people. When the guy who can basically reach the rim without lifting his feet off the ground is actually stationed near the rim, it’s going to be very difficult, if if not almost impossible, to stop him, and by extension the Spurs.
It’s easier said than done. Again, Wembanyama isn’t strong enough to muscle his way down there consistently, and the Knicks are going to adjust. But through a combination of attacking quickly before the defense can set, rolling hard as often as possible (even as the Knicks tag him, if only to get down there for later in the shot clock and/or offensive rebounding position), and Johnson continuing to design actions to facilitate lower positioning, the Spurs are clearly starting to figure this out.
Each game they have been more successful at getting Wemby into the paint, and if they can do it again in Wednesday night’s Game 4, they might very well find themselves heading back to San Antonio in a 2-2 series.
