San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson addressed the media on Thursday, June 4, ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, focusing on adjustments, execution, and the evolving nature of the series. The Spurs look to respond after dropping Game 1 at home.
Asked about whether surviving multiple comeback situations across the postseason provides any consolation, Johnson said, “Yeah it has to be. We’ve been consistent in that regard. I think one thing we have learned in our three series is the series are long the games are long things shift quickly whether that’s health who’s playing well or hot quote unquote at the time.”
He continued on the broader playoff rhythm, stating, “You know, teams at this stage typically have shown the ability to evolve on the fly and improve within a series. And that’s how you see these series go back and forth and these teams make great adjustments and take advantage of those.”
Johnson emphasized immediate corrections after Game 1, saying, “we’re coming off a loss and it’s on us to, you know, get into that balancing act of change tweak over here and be better and sharper over there.”
On offensive execution against New York’s paint protection, he explained, “We have to make sure we don’t fight the game. You know, if a team is going to be very adamant and committed to taking away something, typically that means it’s opening something else up elsewhere.”
He added, “We got to make sure we continue to put pressure on the rim. That’s not always for ourselves. And that can be with the roll, that can be with the cut, that can be with the drive.”
Reflecting on shot quality and tempo, Johnson noted, “Some of the threes were felt rushed. Some of the threes may have still been good shots and still felt rushed.”
He expanded on the offensive structure, saying, “it’s a very delicate ecosystem where one thing leads to the other and the ripple effect can be rather grand when you when you pull back the layers and get into the weeds.”
Rotation questions also surfaced after a late-game decision to keep Dylan Harper off the floor in a key stretch. Johnson said, “There was definitely consideration. Dylan had a heck of a game and was playing very well.”
He clarified the decision, adding, “Dylan did not finish the game by nothing that he did or did not do. And it was a decision I made.”
Looking ahead, Johnson pointed to internal improvement, stating, “16 assists is not a reflection of this program ever since I’ve been here in decades before I was.”
He also projected growth from key players, saying, “I think Victor will play better. Sure. I think a couple guys will make more shots than they did.”
On late-game learning, he said, “old teams make bad decisions too at the end of games.”
Johnson also addressed overall offensive cohesion against New York’s defensive scheme, stating, “I thought that our offense in general did not put a lot of people in the right situations and spots last night.”
He added that the opponent’s physicality mattered, saying, “New York gets a lot of credit for that. But I think that we have a lot of room for improvement on that moving forward.”
