'We've always got hope': Harper, Spurs unperturbed by 3-1 NBA Finals deficit
NEW YORK, United States — Dylan Harper knows the odds.
The San Antonio Spurs rookie also knows history says teams in his position rarely survive.
None of that has shaken his belief.
Facing elimination and trailing the New York Knicks 3-1 in the NBA Finals, Harper said the Spurs remain focused on the opportunity in front of them rather than the daunting task of becoming only the second team in league history to erase a 3-1 deficit in the championship series.
"I feel like everyone took a day to relax, debrief, and just hit that reset button," Harper said Friday (Saturday Manila time) ahead of Game 5. "But we've got another opportunity to go and prove who we are as a team. So that's the biggest focus for us 40 hours from now."
The Spurs appeared to be in control of the series before suffering one of the most painful losses in franchise history in Game 4.
San Antonio built a 29-point lead and set an NBA Finals record with 14 three-pointers in the first half. The Spurs still led by 15 entering the fourth quarter before the Knicks stormed back for a 107-106 victory on OG Anunoby's tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining.
The loss pushed San Antonio to the brink of elimination and left the young Spurs searching for answers after surrendering the largest comeback in NBA Finals history.
Yet Harper said the locker room has not lost faith.
"Yeah, we've always got hope," Harper said. "I think our biggest thing in the locker room is keep having that belief and having that belief and having that belief and not letting anyone take that away from us, because that's how we ultimately got here."
The confidence comes from a rookie who has already shown remarkable poise on basketball's biggest stage. Harper is averaging 16.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his first NBA Finals appearance, emerging as one of the breakout performers of the championship series.
Belief may be all the Spurs have as they attempt to climb out of a hole only one team has escaped.
The lone successful comeback from a 3-1 deficit in NBA Finals history came in 2016, when LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to defeat the 73-win Golden State Warriors.
Harper remembers watching that series unfold as a 10-year-old.
"Yeah, I definitely watched that series," Harper said. "That was probably a series to remember. The only one to ever do it."
More than the comeback itself, Harper recalled the performances that fueled it.
"My biggest takeaway was the performances, obviously LeBron and Kyrie, that they put on just to have that comeback," he said.
The Spurs will need a similar response if they hope to extend their season.
Game 4 served as a painful lesson about how quickly momentum can shift on the NBA's biggest stage. After dominating the first half and silencing Madison Square Garden, San Antonio watched the Knicks erase the deficit possession by possession before Anunoby delivered the winning basket.
For Harper, the collapse reinforced the importance of maintaining focus regardless of the score.
"The biggest thing for us is just can't take our foot off the gas in a sense," Harper said. "Can't get comfortable with a lead. It's the NBA Finals. Anything could happen, like we just saw."
The rookie added that staying connected as a group will be critical as the Spurs try to keep their championship hopes alive.
"But just at the end of the day, we've just got to stay together as a group," Harper said.
Filipino fans guaranteed a champion
While Harper and the Spurs fight to keep their season alive, another storyline has captivated basketball fans in the Philippines.
The NBA Finals guarantees that either Harper or Knicks veteran Jordan Clarkson will leave the series with a championship ring, creating a historic moment for Filipino basketball supporters.
Clarkson, a longtime star for Gilas Pilipinas, is one victory away from capturing the first NBA championship of his career and bringing a title back to one of basketball's most passionate fan bases.
Though his role has been limited during the Finals, Clarkson has provided veteran depth off the bench for New York. The 2021 NBA Sixth Man of the Year is averaging 4.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game in the series. His best performance came in the Knicks' Game 3 loss, when he scored 10 points in 13 minutes.
The veteran guard embraced the significance of the matchup during NBA Finals media day.
"Another amazing thing that's happening right now," Clarkson said before the series. "Definitely inspiring to the Filipino Americans and Filipinos all around the country."
Clarkson also praised Harper's emergence as one of the league's brightest young stars.
"He's been really good throughout the whole year. I've been watching him, keeping up with him, as well," Clarkson said. "Him being so young and having so much poise throughout this whole playoffs, it's a great sight to see a young star coming in this league and doing what he's doing."
The Spurs rookie has rewarded that praise throughout the Finals, helping San Antonio push New York in the closest NBA Finals in more than five decades.
The historical parallel is striking. Each of the first four games between the Knicks and Spurs has been within four points in the final minute of regulation. The last NBA Finals to begin with four such games came in 1973, when New York faced the Los Angeles Lakers on its way to the franchise's most recent championship.
Harper has been one of the driving forces behind that drama with his strong performance in his first NBA Finals appearance while helping transform the series into an instant classic.
Clarkson noted that regardless of the outcome, the series represents a milestone for Filipino basketball.
"Like you said, one of us two taking a championship back home to the Philippines and representing that well," Clarkson said.
The Finals also carry special meaning for Clarkson, who grew up in San Antonio and remembers watching the city come alive during the Spurs' championship years.
"My stepmom worked at the Westin, so I would see the parades through the hotel balconies and stuff," Clarkson said. "Being able to take pictures and run up on players for autographs, I was definitely that kid."
Now, Clarkson finds himself on the other side of the Finals stage, trying to close out the team he once grew up cheering for.
For Harper, however, the focus remains simple.
The Knicks are one win away from their first NBA championship since 1973. The Spurs are trying to make sure the series returns to New York for Game 6.
History is against them. Harper's belief is not.
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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com.
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