{"id":32989,"date":"2026-06-10T23:58:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/10\/trending-topics-what-is-each-teams-biggest-advantage-entering-game-4\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:58:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:58:01","slug":"trending-topics-what-is-each-teams-biggest-advantage-entering-game-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/10\/trending-topics-what-is-each-teams-biggest-advantage-entering-game-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Trending Topics: What is each team&#8217;s biggest advantage entering Game 4?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption\">\n<p><iframe class=\"mkv-embed mkv-embed-2234855 mkv-embed-prod\" data-nba-id=\"2234855\" data-nba-env=\"prod\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/watch\/embed\/2234855?autostart=false&amp;mute=false\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Association crew break down what the Knicks and Spurs need to do in order to win Game 4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>\u2022 Complete coverage:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/playoffs\/2026\/nba-finals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 NBA Finals<\/a><br \/>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.nba.com\/NBAapp_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download the NBA App<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>What is each team\u2019s biggest advantage entering Game 4?<\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Steve Aschburner<\/h3>\n<p><strong>For the Spurs: San Antonio\u2019s entering Game 4<\/strong> is the same as it is in any game he plays: Victor Wembanyama. His length and his skill set are every-night weapons, but his ability to absorb hard lessons and, with swift turnaround, deploy that learning to the Spurs\u2019 advantage is what qualifies him, in my view, for that \u201cAlien\u201d nickname. Can any of us say with any assurance that Wembanyama will not have a night in these Finals on which he scores 50 with 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots? See, scary potential, expanding at a sci-fi pace.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For the Knicks: New York\u2019s biggest advantage<\/strong> heading into Game 4 is their Game 3 defeat. Stacking 13 consecutive victories in the playoffs was extremely impressive, but sometimes it takes a little humbling and a formidable opponent shining a spotlight on flaws to inspire a correction. New York played out of character in dropping that Madison Square Garden party pooper: slower, less together, with lower energy defensively. All things it can and had better clean up.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Brian Martin<\/h3>\n<p><b>For the Spurs: A rising Wembanyama.<\/b> Victor Wembanyama has improved with each game of his first NBA Finals. His scoring (26, 29, 32), field-goal percentage (28.6%, 52.4%, 61.1%), 3-point percentage (22.2%, 33.3%, 50%), and plus\/minus (-3, +6, +7) have all risen from Game 1 to Game 2 to Game 3.<\/p>\n<p>While Wembanyama has knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in each game, his attempts have decreased in each game (9, 6, 4) as he has shifted his offense closer to the basket. With his team down 2-0, Wembanyama opened Game 3 with his first five shots coming within five feet of the basket \u2014 beginning with a pair of dunks to set the tone. Plus, after committing a total of 10 turnovers in San Antonio \u2014 including a costly giveaway at the end of Game 2 \u2014 Wembanyama committed only one in the Spurs\u2019 Game 3 win.<\/p>\n<p><b>For the Knicks: Rest and depth. <\/b>With Game 4 being the last game of the Finals coming on just one day of rest \u2014 before two days off between each subsequent game to accommodate travel \u2014 will the Knicks\u2019 rest advantage come into play? The Knicks have played four fewer games and nearly 200 fewer minutes this postseason (821 to 1,018) after sweeping the past two rounds, compared to the Spurs, who were pushed to six and seven games, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from having fewer miles on their legs, the Knicks have also gone deeper into their bench than the Spurs so far in the Finals. New York\u2019s reserves have outscored their San Antonio counterparts 77-64 through three games, a plus-13 advantage in a series separated by a total of just seven points. The Knicks have nine players averaging 10+ minutes per game compared to just seven for the Spurs.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Shaun Powell<\/h3>\n<p><b>For the Spurs: <strong>Their defense on Jalen Brunson <\/strong><\/b>is similar to the suffocation applied to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs managed to make Gilgeous-Alexander work for almost every shot and it helped that the Thunder were missing Jalen Williams for much of that series, but still. Against Brunson, the Spurs\u2019 young and quick and physical guards \u2014 Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper in particular \u2014 are forcing him to burn calories, and that\u2019s all you can do against certified scorers such as Brunson and Gilgeous-Alexander. Now the trick is to make sure Brunson doesn\u2019t beat them in the clutch \u2014 easier said than done.<\/p>\n<p><b>For the Knicks:<\/b> <strong>They still hold the series lead<\/strong>, the home court advantage and are the wiser team. Plus, they managed to dig out of holes for three straight and plant doubt inside the heads of the Spurs; they just didn\u2019t cash in Monday. Collectively, the Knicks are deeper and bring more talent. That usually defines the superior team. Also, OG Anunoby is quietly having a decent series and isn\u2019t afraid to challenge Victor Wembanyama at the rim, believing his strength can overpower Wembanyama, who has yet to swat one os his shots away.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>John Schuhmann<\/h3>\n<p><b>For the Spurs: They are getting better shots.<\/b> Victor Wembanyama is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/finals-film-study-game-3-2026-finals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scoring in the paint<\/a>, his gravity is creating open looks for his teammates, and their offense has gotten progressively better with each game. The Knicks\u2019 offense has too, but they\u2019re having to work a little harder for good shots and are too often <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/spurs-defensive-rotations-nba-finals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">playing late in the clock<\/a>. Game 3 was their most efficient offensive game of the series, but it came with their second-lowest shot quality of the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p><b>For the Knicks: The primary advantage<\/b> is the 2-1 lead they have in the series. But they\u2019re also winning the possession battle, with offensive rebounds being one reason they were efficient in Game 3, despite the tough shots. And if we\u2019re going to get more close games (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/clutch-traditional?sort=W_PCT&amp;dir=-1&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;PORound=4&amp;Season=2025-26&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;PointDiff=3&amp;ClutchTime=Last+2+Minutes&quot; target=&quot;stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">all three have been within three points in the last two minutes<\/a>), the Knicks are a little more comfortable with where they\u2019re going on clutch possessions.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Jeff Zillgitt<\/h3>\n<p><strong>For the Spurs: Victor Wembanyama has improved<\/strong> with each game in the Finals, culminating with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in San Antonio\u2019s Game 3 victory. It was his highest-scoring output of the series on 11-for-18 shooting, including 2-for-4 on 3s, and he had his series-best 16 points in the paint. His first eight points of Game 3 came on shots at the rim, including two dunks to give the Spurs a 4-0 lead. He has been more aggressive since Game 1, and this isn\u2019t to say the Spurs \u201chave figured out the Knicks,\u201d but his improvement is a good sign for San Antonio, and it creates better opportunities for his teammates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For the Knicks: Their collective experience.<\/strong> For certain, the Knicks don\u2019t have a roster full of players with Finals experience. Mikal Bridges gained experience with the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, and Jordan Clarkson (Cleveland in 2018) and Dillon Jones (Oklahoma City in 2022) had limited minutes in their Finals appearances. But players such as Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby (he was injured during Toronto\u2019s 2019 championship run), and Josh Hart have experience in important games. The Knicks have shown how strong they are when that collective experience is brought to bear. They showed that at the end of Game 1, in their comeback in Game 2 and that they will need it in Game 4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Association crew break down what the Knicks and Spurs need to do in order to win Game 4. \u2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_animmysite_disable_animation":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.nba.com\/manage\/2026\/06\/brunson-harper-060926-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[212],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}