Dylan Harper did not hide his disappointment after the San Antonio Spurs squandered a 29-point lead in a 107-106 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
The rookie guard, however, made it clear that his focus had already shifted toward the next challenge as the Spurs return home trailing 3-1 in the series.
“We just lost about 20 minutes ago. It ain’t really hit me but shock, but a whole lot more basketball to be played now,” Harper said after the game. “I’m never going to after this is over go take a shower, wash it off and go get ready for Game 5, most important game. Just got to focus on the next 48 minutes.”
The defeat was one of the most dramatic in Finals history. San Antonio led by 27 at halftime and by as many as 29 points in the third quarter before New York stormed back behind Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby, whose tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining delivered the winning basket.
Harper finished with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting and was one of the Spurs’ most efficient contributors. Yet his attention afterward was on the missed opportunity.
“We all definitely hurt,” Harper said. “Kind of gave the game up, was up what, 30. Hurt. Angry. But I feel like this is all fuel to the fire for us, and I think that we just going to go out next game with a sense of fire.”
The Spurs struggled offensively after halftime, scoring only 30 points in the second half after putting up 76 before the break. Harper believed the team’s approach changed as the lead grew.
“We went away from everything we were doing,” he said. “I think in the first half a lot of shots went in and a lot of tough shots went in, but really that was because we was playing the right way.”
Harper added that San Antonio lost the discipline that built the lead.
“I think we got away from that in the second half because of the lead, but we just can’t take our foot off the gas,” he said. “It’s one thing for me to sit up here and say it, but it’s another thing for us to go out there and do it.”
The final play was especially painful for the Spurs. Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in came after Brunson’s three-point attempt bounced off the rim in the closing seconds.
“I definitely thought I had a hand on it,” Harper said. “I definitely think I helped put the ball in the rim. But just got to box out.”
Despite the collapse, Harper insisted the Spurs are not dwelling on the magnitude of the loss.
“Backs against the wall. We answer the call every time,” he said. “So, this is no different for us. It’s not no time to complain, not no time to point fingers. It’s time for us to step up.”
For Harper, the defeat is serving as motivation rather than discouragement.
“I feel like this loss, I’mma bounce back. We all going to bounce back and I feel like we going to show the world we made of,” Harper said. “If we going to lose, we not going out like that. We going to put up a fight and we going to keep swinging.”
The Spurs now face elimination in Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio, needing three consecutive victories to prevent the Knicks from capturing their first NBA championship since 1973.
