Homecourt advantage a myth?

New York is back in the NBA saddle after a long wait of 53 years and the Knicks exposed the homecourt advantage as a myth in the playoffs. In 19 post-season games, New York won nine of 10 road outings and clinched all four of its series away from home. Against Atlanta in the first round, the Knicks closed it out in Game 6 on the road. Against Philadelphia in the East semis, New York finished it in Game 4 on the road. Against Cleveland in the East finals, the Knicks ended it in Game 4 on the road. And against San Antonio in the Finals, New York clinched in Game 5 on the road.

Throughout the playoffs, New York lost more games at home than on the road. The Knicks lost to Atlanta in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden and to the Spurs in Game 3, also at the Garden. New York’s overall playoff record was 16-3.

New York and San Antonio were surprise finalists. Athlon Sports predicted defending champion Oklahoma City to beat the Cavs in the Finals. Lindy’s Sports picked OKC to repeat. Sports Illustrated saw Denver defeating Cleveland in a six-game Finals. Nobody expected the Knicks and Spurs to go all the way. Last season was San Antonio’s sixth straight out of the playoffs and the Spurs could rack up only 34 wins. New York lost to Indiana in six games in the previous East finals.

San Antonio came off a grueling seven-game grind to dethrone OKC in the West finals with the Spurs surviving a 3-2 series deficit before engaging New York in the Last Dance. In every game of the Finals, the Spurs had the lead after the first quarter. In Game 4, New York recovered from 29 down and in Game 5, the Knicks came back from 16 down. Clearly, the Spurs couldn’t handle the pressure when it came to winning time. Their youth and inexperience showed. In Game 5, Victor Wembanyama, who’s 22, missed a free throw with 1:53 left and the Spurs trailing by three. Wemby flubbed his last two field goal attempts, both from three, with 17.9 seconds and 2.0 seconds left. Karl-Anthony Towns had fouled out with 1:53 on the clock so it was Mitch Robinson whom Wemby had to contend with yet he couldn’t deliver. Dylan Harper, who’s 19, missed a wide-open layup with 27.3 ticks to go and if he had converted, the score would’ve been tied. Harper also clanked two foul shots with 8.5 seconds remaining.

Wemby was visibly upset when it ended. He shot 19 points in Game 5, his lowest in the Finals and couldn’t bail out the Spurs with the outcome in the balance. Wemby walked off the floor without congratulating the Knicks and in the mandatory post-game press conference, said “see you all, never” as he appeared to bang the hand-held microphone on the table in an emotional farewell. The context was probably Wemby’s way of saying he’ll never be in that losing situation again. New York’s physical defense was at its fiercest in the clincher, holding San Antonio to 90 points, the lowest any team scored against the Knicks in the playoffs. The Spurs also had no answer for Jalen Brunson who fired 36 in Game 4 and 45 in Game 5.

In 1999, New York lost to San Antonio, 4-1, in the NBA Finals so this season saw a reversal. The Knicks hadn’t been back in the Finals in 27 years while the Spurs’ previous appearance was when they won in 2014. The NBA has now crowned eight different champions since Golden State won back-to-back in 2017-18 with Toronto, LA Lakers, Milwaukee, Warriors, Denver, Boston, OKC and New York playing musical chairs.