Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t just help New York erase a 29-point hole in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. He also offered a blunt explanation for why the Spurs let that kind of lead slip away in the first place.
On a recent episode of The New York Times’ podcast "The Interview," the Knicks big man said San Antonio’s mindset changed once the pressure started rising, while New York stayed aggressive.
“I think sometimes when you’re a young team you look to not lose the game, and we were looking to win the game," Towns told host Andrew Keh. "That’s what made us bring such aggression to the game and I think they were just trying to protect the lead.”
That collapse ended up being the turning point in a series that saw the Spurs struggle with late-game consistency throughout. In fact, the Finals became the first in NBA history in which a team lost in five games despite leading by 10 or more in every contest.
Towns said the difference in Game 4 came down to execution, shot-making and physicality once the comeback started to take shape.
"They're hitting shots. We're not hitting many shots.
They're executing at a higher level. We weren't.
They were bringing more physicality to the game than us, and we weren't," Towns continued. "So we had to take our game to another level and amplify ourselves.
In the face of adversity, we found ourselves finding our best version in the second half."
The Spurs’ young core, led by Victor Wembanyama, is still early in its development. They were in the draft lottery just over a year ago, and Towns’ read on the moment frames the loss as less about talent and more about how a young team responds when a game starts slipping away.
Forty days after New York ended its 53-year title drought, the Game 4 collapse still hangs over San Antonio. And from Towns’ view, the lesson was simple: the Knicks kept playing to win, while the Spurs started playing not to lose.
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