The New York Knicks may have been underdogs heading into the NBA Finals, but Josh Hart believes his team spotted a key weakness in the San Antonio Spurs before the series even began.
Hart revealed there was one moment after the Western Conference Finals that immediately caught his attention.
“Everyone’s talking to them about, ‘Yo, they’ve got to beat OKC. OKC’s going to repeat,’” Hart said speaking during a live episode of The Roommates Show alongside teammate Jalen Brunson at Madison Square Garden. “They beat OKC. For a young team, I feel like that was the mountaintop for them.
“That’s when I looked at (Brunson) and I was like, ‘You see that reaction? Because like they think they’re going to win it. They think it’s over.’”
One of the defining clips from that night was Victor Wembanyama becoming emotional after the final buzzer, a sign of just how much the moment meant to San Antonio’s young core.
Meanwhile, the Knicks approached their own Eastern Conference Finals victory very differently.
After sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers to secure their first Finals appearance in 27 years, the focus quickly shifted to the championship series rather than celebrating the achievement itself.
That difference in mentality appeared to show throughout the Finals.
Despite San Antonio entering the series full of confidence after eliminating Oklahoma City, the experienced Knicks proved too composed in the biggest moments.
New York won the championship in five games and erased double-digit deficits in all four of its victories.
The defining moment came in Game 4 when the Knicks produced a record 29-point comeback before eventually taking full control of the series.
For Hart, the warning signs were there before Game 1 was even played. While the Spurs celebrated reaching the Finals, the Knicks were already focused on what came next.
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