The Madison Square Garden echoed with the New York Knicks fans singing to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Their team fought valiantly against the San Antonio Spurs in the 107-106 win, where much was to be said about the hosts. Instead, most of the attention went to the team that almost could.

As much of a historic win as it was for the Knicks, it was a similar collapse for the Spurs, capped by multiple wrong decisions after they led by 27 points at halftime. NBA legend Charles Barkley already made his take clear: “We saw the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization.” Now, former All-Star Chris Webber has also publicly agreed with Barkley’s take with a burn: the Spurs should leave the cooking to the Chef.

“That was just, probably the dumbest game and, I’d like to say, most arrogant game that’s ever been played, and with the stakes this high,” Weber said on his appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.

The Knicks’ resilience to play through the deficit was a bright spot that no one can deny. But the very game showed the biggest analytical lapse with the Spurs as they failed to utilize the 7’4″ Victor Wembanyama. That wasn’t it, though.

The inexperienced Spurs went cold from beyond the arc, going just 3 of 17 in the second half. They made 11 of their 16 three-pointers in the first half. The Knicks not only outscored them 58-30 but also limited the visitors to 4 of 20 from the field in the third quarter. It was the same hunger the Knicks have been showing throughout the playoffs, while the Spurs took them for granted.

Adding to that, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson took Wembanyama away from the paint. The Frenchman is a good three-point shooter, but he is most comfortable inside the paint, considering he is always the tallest player on the hardwood. However, Johnson forgot the critical stage of the game, and Weber didn’t forget to call that out.

“Steph Curry is the best three-point shooter we’ve ever seen, and he’s one of the best finishers. He never gets credit for that because as soon as you think that you deny him, he goes back door and he makes a layup. That’s the brilliance of him shooting threes; he’s not just a specialist. And when you have guys taking hard and light step-backs and bad shots, it really made me mad.”

Rather than continuously chucking low-percentage outside looks, stars like Stephen Curry process space and find alternative scoring lanes to preserve their efficiency. Instead of emulating Curry’s fluid, inside-out balance, the young Spurs replicated the historic failures of the James Harden-led Houston Rockets, who infamously missed 27 consecutive three-pointers in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals.

The Spurs’ letting the game get away in the second half has been a pattern all series, even when they won Game 3. From Jalen Brunson intercepting Wemby’s bad pass to Stephon Castle and Mitchell Robinson executing two clutch plays in the final seconds off of De’Aaron Fox’s mistakes proves the team is lacking Curry’s crunch time instincts.

Mitch Johnson’s decision to pull Victor Wembanyama from the paint has been detrimental during the Minnesota and OKC series. Those times, they made adjustments, mostly with Gregg Popovich’s intervention, and bounced back. The Finals, however, have seen the Spurs taking perimeter shots and failing.

Through the first four games, San Antonio is shooting 42.75%  from the field. But the difference is obvious in the two halves. In Game 4, they went from a blistering 59.6% in the first half to a jarring 20.5%, a direct cause of the 29-point collapse. They made NBA history for the most threes in the first half of a finals game with 14, only to make just three in the second half.

“They made some shots, and that’s where you felt the momentum a little bit,” Johnson said. “We just needed a few more tough-minded plays to finish the job.”

On the scoreboard, the difference is certainly one possession. But in reality, things were tougher for the Spurs, who could’ve tied the series 2-2 before heading back home. Now, it’s a do-or-die situation for the Spurs, where the Knicks look heavily favored to win it all, unless Wemby and his team listen to exactly what he said after the loss:

“We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half.”