SAN ANTONIO -- Karl-Anthony Towns has been where Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are now -- the talented bunch that is trying to get over the hump but keeps making errors to put themselves in impossible situations.
Towns' experience, forged through some recent playoff failures, seems to be driving the bus for the New York Knicks, who held off a late surge by the Spurs on Friday night for a 105-104 win in Game 2 at Frost Bank Center and a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.
Thanks to Towns' consistency on both ends of the floor, the Knicks are two games away from making history. New York joined the 1993 Chicago Bulls and 1995 Houston Rockets as the only teams to win the first two games of the Finals on the road. Both of those clubs came away as champions.
If the Knicks follow that script, their thrilling Game 2 win will be remembered as a catalyst for winning their first NBA title since 1973.
Towns wasn't on the floor for Wembanyama's last shot, a 20-foot jumper that couldn't find the net before the buzzer sounded. Mitchell Robinson guarded Wembanyama there, and on another critical possession in which his inexperience seemed to show.
But Towns was on the floor when Wembanyama grabbed a rebound with 11.8 seconds left and the score tied at 104. The Spurs could've run the clock down for the final shot, but Wembanyama threw a pass to Stephon Castle when Castle wasn't looking, leading to Jalen Brunson retrieving the loose ball and being fouled by Wembanyama. Brunson made the front end of two free throws, which decided the outcome.
Towns scored 21 points with 13 rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes. Wembanyama scored 29 points, including 10 in the final quarter when the Spurs rebounded from a 14-point deficit to take a two-point lead with 57 seconds left.
"I have been on the other side where you're a young team and you're trying to do a lot to win the game," Towns said. "And I think that for us, we keep leaning on experience and we keep leaning on the word 'execution.'"
Two years ago, Towns was in Minnesota when the Timberwolves took the first two games on the road against the then-champion Denver Nuggets and went on to win the series in seven games to advance to the Western Conference finals. He was on this most recent Knicks team that gave up home-court advantage in the East finals last year against the Indiana Pacers and never recovered.
"Obviously, you come into the new year, it's a new journey, new pieces. Something's different. New set of goals and everything," Brunson said. "So it's all about growing together as a team and just going through your battles, going through the journey, going through the ups and downs of it, and making sure that we're all focused on one thing."
The Knicks have executed to the tune of 13 straight playoff wins, and their eighth straight victory on the road required all of the guile they've developed over the past couple of years. Towns scored 17 in the first half, repeatedly throwing Wembanyama off-balance with his array of offensive moves, and the Knicks needed to play through him on a night Brunson shot 7-for-25 from the field.
Wembanyama hasn't dominated this series like he did the previous two, especially against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a grueling, emotionally charged seven-game clash. Led by Towns and Robinson, the Knicks' defense has held Wembanyama to 40% shooting and 10 turnovers in two games.
Towns has arguably been the series' most valuable player. He is averaging 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and four assists on 56% shooting and is a plus-25 in two closely contested games.
Towns' role on the Knicks this season has been evolving, and it doesn't feel like a coincidence they play their best when he's on the floor at the center of everything they do.
"We finally got to a point where he was comfortable, I was comfortable, Jalen was comfortable, OG [Anunoby] was comfortable, Mikal [Bridges] was comfortable. And to me, that's what the regular season's about," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "The regular season is about finding your way so you can get prepared for this time of the year. And there's going to be a lot of ups and downs. And I hope there's adversity. I hope like hell there's adversity. Because we have to see if we're strong enough when it comes to being connected to see if we can get through it during the regular season. So when we get here, anything we run into, we've already conquered during the regular season. We'll know how to handle it."
One of the changes the Knicks made came near midseason, when they adjusted their offense to fit Towns and not the other way around. During the Atlanta series about six weeks ago, Brown made an even bigger adjustment. With the Knicks trailing 2-1 and facing a critical Game 4 in Atlanta, he began to feature Towns as a playmaker.
The Knicks haven't lost since and now have a chance to clinch a title at home if they take care of business in the next two games, beginning Monday in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.
"It's an amazing feeling as a coach to know how mentally tough your team is no matter what the situation is in front of them," Brown said. "To see them continue to fight and fight and fight and fight, no matter what the score is, no matter how much time is on the clock, it's just a fantastic feeling. The NBA is tough. You don't experience what I'm experiencing with this group a ton, and it is a freaking joy to be around."