The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and ended their 11-game win streak after San Antonio went undefeated in February. The game in Madison Square Garden was far from competitive with the Spurs down for the entire game, ultimately falling 114-89.
Jeremy Sochan Gets Revenge As Spurs Lose To Knicks
Spurs Struggle with Turnovers and Rebounding
In what is becoming somewhat of a frustrating norm, the Silver and Black are not rebounding properly against top talent. The Spurs are by no means a bad team on the boards, but competing for a championship is starting to look harder for them without addressing that issue. On Sunday, the Spurs had a poor game in terms of holding on to the ball. With 22 turnovers, the team was beaten on the fast break. This is concerning as the Spurs are built to be a team that forces turnovers and gets out in transition. They should not be beaten in fast-break or points off of turnovers by an older team. However, whether this becomes a pattern is yet to be seen.
The New York Knicks finished the season series 2-1 over the Spurs. This is a little strange given that the Knicks have the worst record when it comes to top-six teams playing against each other. This is reminiscent of last year when the Knicks could not beat the Celtics or the Cavaliers in the regular season but went further than them.
What gives the Knicks an advantage over the Spurs? Rebounding, for starters. The Knicks have both centers who can rebound great and, more importantly, forwards can rebound great. Players like Josh Hart and OG Anunoby pick up the slack that other players may have left because they are trying to box out centers. They also clearly like to attack center Victor Wembanyama, who had seven turnovers in this game. Lastly, they have the “Spur-Killer” Jalen Brunson, who likes to play his best against San Antonio. Just look at his 61-point game two years ago.
How Did Sochan End Up on the Knicks?
Jeremy Sochan was released by the Spurs following rumored attempts to trade him. Afterwards, he was picked up by the Knicks, who were still looking for depth and defense. In his short time with the Knicks, he has gotten few minutes and has struggled to make an impact. In his first ever game against the Spurs, he played only two minutes and recorded one point. Although his stats have not been impeccable, his real test may come during the playoffs if he can show off his defense to the Knicks in time.
Is the Sochan Drama Even Real?
Despite Sochan’s limited playing time, it is natural to wonder how big a deal beating his old team was. Some have pointed to a clip of Victor Wembanyama swatting his hand away when Wemby shifted towards the sideline after a shot. His hand came inches from hitting Sochan and another Knicks player behind him. Some have taken this as a sign of bad blood. However, it is unlikely he saw Sochan behind him. More importantly, Sochan and Wembanyama, as well as Devin Vassell, all embraced before the game.
Big hugs from Wemby & the Spurs for Jeremy Sochan pic.twitter.com/CKfkhpHNUb
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) March 1, 2026
But what about the rest of the team? The Spurs could have kept Sochan and just decreased his minutes. Instead, they gave him away for nothing. Still, this could have been a gift to Sochan. The Spurs effectively gave him the opportunity to play somewhere else where he could get more minutes.
I find it unlikely that there is any real drama between the Spurs and Jeremy Sochan. It was most likely a mutual decision for him to leave, though it surely felt great for Sochan to get a win against the team he left. But he has bigger fish to fry as just like in San Antonio; Sochan has rookie Mohamed Diawara to compete with on the depth chart, and his time is coming.
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