Shamet Warns Knicks On Long Layoff Before Game 1 vs. Spurs

Landry Shamet said the Knicks have to handle a long layoff the right way before Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. The guard said on Monday that New York is focused on sharp details, body maintenance and mental readiness before the June 3 opener.

Shamet and the Knicks

“All that [Cleveland] stuff’s behind us,” Shamet said. He added that “our job at hand right now is making sure our bodies are right; making sure our minds are right; making sure we’re paying attention to details.”

Shamet said, “Our focus is on going on the road and winning Game 1, and that’s been the same.” He also said, “This isn’t our first long break that we’ve had.”

Mike Brown on San Antonio

Head coach Mike Brown said the Knicks have to be ready for a hostile building and the energy San Antonio will generate. He said the group cannot count on crowd energy to carry it through difficult stretches the way it can at Madison Square Garden.

Brown said the Knicks need to come out “with a purpose,” not just physically but mentally, so they do not fall behind early. He said the crowd in San Antonio will feed into that if New York starts slow.

Knicks and the layoff

The concern is not theoretical. New York had not played since it completed a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals on May 25, and the team already ran into trouble earlier after a break this postseason.

After last playing on May 10, the Knicks fell behind Cleveland by 22 points in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. That is the sharpest recent warning attached to this Finals opener, with Game 1 set for June 3 against a Spurs team that earned its spot with a Game 7 win the previous Saturday.

For New York, the task is simple on paper and difficult on the floor: carry the same edge that swept Cleveland into the first road game of the Finals, without leaning on the home crowd to steady them if the start goes sideways.