Knicks’ counter to Victor Wembanyama? The corners

The Athletic has live coverage of Spurs vs. Knicks in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals.

SAN ANTONIO — It might be the wildest shot of these NBA Finals — with apologies to Jalen Brunson — but it certainly illustrates how the Knicks are countering the freshly minted Defensive Player of the Year.

In the final seconds of the third quarter in Game 1, the Knicks had Mitchell Robinson occupying Victor Wembanyama on the left low block with Josh Hart camped out on the right. Within two passes, Hart had the ball with a lane to the rim — forcing Wembanyama to leave Robinson and protect the rim.

But Hart was never going up on Wemby. Hart’s intentions were always to collapse the defense, taking two dribbles in the paint to buy time for Miles McBride to drift to the corner. Hart led McBride with the pass. And the one they call Deuce caught the ball with all his momentum taking him toward baseline. Firmly in the corner when he planted, McBride took advantage of the lift he gets on his jumper and the high release point, launching the 3 over charging Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox.

McBride’s 3-pointer caromed high off the glass and through the net.

Banking a corner 3 is like finding a $20 bill in a jacket you haven’t worn in a while. On the playground, it would be said McBride must be living right.

But it served as an illustration of a critical strength of these Knicks. They dominate from the corners like Marlo from “The Wire.” And the key to the play was who didn’t contest the shot.

Victor Wembanyama.

Because of him, some of the most precious real estate in these NBA Finals are the four plots of 42 square feet, one in each corner. It amounts to some 3.6 percent of an NBA court and could decide who wins this series.

New York holds a commanding 2-0 lead over San Antonio in no small part because it maximizes this real estate. The Knicks have made a blistering 53.6 percent of their corner 3s to counter a defense that thrives in protecting the paint.

The Spurs have one of the league’s best defenses because Wembanyama patrols the paint with one of the longest wing spans (8 feet) in NBA history. And with athletic, aggressive guards on the perimeter, emboldened by the ultimate rim protector, the Spurs also defend the 3-point line well. They’re a difficult equation for an offense to solve.

The Knicks entered the finals averaging 53.3 points in the paint — the most in the playoffs. That shift from their norm was noteworthy considering New York ranked 23rd in points in the paint (47.8) during the regular season.

Against the Spurs, that number is way down: 44.0. But that’s The Wemby Effect. San Antonio is allowing just 41.2 paint points per game in these playoffs.

“His length is unmatched and he’s got good IQ,” Mikal Bridges said. “It definitely causes trouble. He’s DPOY for a reason.”

But the Knicks compensate with their corner 3s. When they want Wembanyama out of the paint, they can go to Towns or put him in the pick-and-roll with Brunson. But the Knicks don’t mind keeping Wembanyama in the paint because they can punish teams from 22 feet. They use drives and ball movement to get the Spurs defense moving, and they love punctuating the execution with a dagger from the corner, the shortest 3-point shot on the court.

Oklahoma City employed the same strategy in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder averaged just 38 points in the paint, shunning interior offense to set up open 3s. OKC used Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives to collapse the defense. He would then pass to a teammate who had drifted to the corner. Though without All-Star Jalen Williams, the Thunder managed enough offense because Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace burned the Spurs with corner 3s — a combined 18 for 31. But OKC eventually cooled after Game 4, making just 11 of 32 the final three games after making 23 in the first four.

The Knicks employ a similar game plan: collapse the paint and spam the corners. And nobody is better at those shots than the Knicks.

New York led the league in corner 3s made with 409, per NBA Stats, one of only five teams to make at least 350. Fewer than half the league (12) reached 300. And in the Finals, the Knicks are scorching from the corners.

OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges are consistently near the top of the league in 3-pointers made from the corner, ranking first and third, respectively, during the regular season. The Knicks also have Landry Shamet, currently unconscious from 3, and McBride as regular corner snipers. Anunoby and Shamet account for 10 of the Knicks’ 15 corner 3s.

“First of all,” Anunoby explained, “(it’s) a lot of practice. A lot of shots. It opens up the floor. Us being in the corners spreads the floor open and it’s a great release valve for the offense.”

They’re all putting San Antonio’s defense in a quandary.

No, New York didn’t discover corner 3s. It’s long been a valued shot in the NBA. The Spurs have taken nearly 11 a game (10.8) this postseason, more even than New York (10.1). But the Knicks just make them at a clip that breaks defenses.

Mike Brown’s squad entered this series shooting 41.8 percent on corner 3s — bested only by the Lakers (46.3) and Minnesota (44.4), neither of which made it past the second round. The Spurs came into the finals shooting 32 percent from the corners, which ranked 14 out of the 16 teams in the postseason.

Through two games? The Knicks have made 15 of 28 — eight in Game 1, seven in Game 2. New York made 20 total in the four-game sweep of Cleveland and came into the Finals averaging 4.0 per game.

And if the numbers don’t illustrate how New York is cooking the Spurs from the corner, then just watch Wembanyama. He’s spinning in circles trying to protect the paint and cover shooters. Often, he can’t get out there and focuses on blocking out.

On Brunson’s massive go-ahead 3 in Game 1, from the right corner, Wembanyama was pinned behind Towns, forcing Stephon Castle to hustle from the middle of the paint to get a hand up. He didn’t stand a chance.

“It’s hard,” Knicks point guard Jose Alvarado said. “That’s why we try to get in the paint and spray it out. It’s a tough task.”

The court is as wide as possible against the Knicks. It’s too much ground even for Wembanyama to cover. The athletic guards of San Antonio can get there, but they often don’t have the length to impact the Knicks shooters.

Of course, if Wembanyama finds his way to the corners, as he’s been known to do, using his 96-inch wingspan to alter the trajectory of the shot, the Knicks seem fine with that, too.

Going out to the corners not only costs Wembanyama energy — a scarce commodity at this stage of the season — but also opens up driving lanes.

Midway through the fourth quarter of Game 2, the Spurs had Fox defending Karl-Anthony Towns, allowing Wembanyama to patrol the middle. The Knicks have been using Towns — one of the best-shooting big men in history — to draw Wembanyama out of the paint, leaving the rim vulnerable to cuts and drives. So with a small on Towns, Wembanyama could play free safety and help out instead of being locked in on Towns.

But Towns, standing in the left corner, threw a cross-court pass over Wembanyama to Anunoby in the right corner. Because of the threat of the corner 3 — and Anunoby is arguably the best in the league — Wembanyama had to hustle to the right corner to defend. He successfully prevented the corner 3, but Anunoby took advantage of Wembanyama’s aggression by driving.

Wembanyama got too close and his momentum was going away from the basket, making him easy to get by. Once he got a step, Anunoby kept Wembanyama on his back.

Wembanyama wound up helpless. Too out of position. Too gassed from covering so much ground. After three dribbles, Anunoby powered up for a two-handed dunk.

The corners belong to the Knicks.