Former Spurs coach reveals what really cost them the title against the Knicks

Former San Antonio Spurs coach Sean Sweeney recently broke his silence about their disappointing NBA Finals loss. Sweeney, who is now the Orlando Magic's head coach, was the Spurs' defensive coordinator during their NBA Finals run.

Therefore, he has valuable insight about why San Antonio came up short against the New York Knicks.

Sweeney was spot on in his assessment. And while he is no longer with the team, they can still use the lessons they learned from him and from their series against the Knicks. During the regular season, San Antonio was actually among the best clutch teams in the NBA.

Unfortunately, it didn't carry over to the postseason. In fact, they lost eight games when leading or trailing by five points in the final five minutes of playoff games. That stat alone cost them a championship.

The Spurs must exercise their late-game demons next season

The Spurs failing to beat the Knicks in the NBA Finals came down to late-game execution. Frankly, they imploded in crunch time during each of their four NBA Finals losses, which is almost impressive in its own right.

Who can forget star Victor Wembanyama throwing an outlet pass to Stephon Castle with less than 30 seconds remaining in Game 2? Of course, the ball bounced off Castle's back.

Wembanyama compounded that mistake by fouling Jalen Brunson immediately after, which put him on the free throw line. Then there was the disaster class that occurred in Game 4.

Look, we all saw it, so there is no need in rehashing the worst collapse in NBA history. Still, there are some major takeaways that could serve the Spurs going forward with those lessons being learned the hard way.

The Spurs must learn from the NBA Finals loss to win a championship

The key takeaways from their loss boil down to two things: De'Aaron Fox and Coach Mitch Johnson. I'm not here to bury Fox again for his awful showing against the Knicks.

That being said, it's painfully obvious that he is no longer the same player he was with the Sacramento Kings. Instead of ice water running through his veins, it might as well be syrup because that man is no longer clutch.

That doesn't mean that he should be benched during crunch time. It also doesn't mean he should get to close games either.

Instead, Dylan Harper should have closed those games, and Johnson has to be willing to play him over Fox when warranted. More on Johnson: his late-game play calling left a lot to be desired.

No one expects him to be Gregg Popovich, who was the master of out-of-timeout plays, but Johnson was awful in that area against the Knicks. Actually, the Spurs could've won Game 2 with better plays being drawn up instead of two out-of-timeout Wembanyama isos in the final minute.

Learning from those mistakes could make an already great team even better. That, combined with an improved roster and a more experienced young core, and the Spurs could very well win it all next season.

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