Spurs' title chances are being sabotaged by unreasonable Luke Kornet decision

Luke Kornet played for four minutes and five seconds in the Spurs' gutwrenching loss to the Knicks in a critical Game 4. The former Celtic champion was brought to San Antonio to back up Victor Wembanyama with the expectation that the Alien wouldn't have to play unnecessarily heavy minutes to win games. The exact opposite happened last night, and it was a major reason for the collapse.

The Spurs are costing themselves by not relying on their depth

Big playoff moments are meant for superstars to put their stamp on. The pressure ratchets up in the postseason, and the NBA Finals dials those expectations up to 100. But coaches are there to put those players in favorable positions to do what they do best. Mitch Johnson didn't do that for Wembanyama, and that might end up costing this franchise their sixth championship.

Kornet was signed to a four-year/$40 million contract. His acquisition was touted as one of the savviest and most important moves of the offseason across the league, as San Antonio's big man depth behind the 7'4" Frenchman was one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA. Not only did they get a strong center with size and intelligence, but he was only one year removed from a title run in Boston.

You couldn't have asked for a better addition. Throughout the season, he proved them right. The fans quickly fell in love with Kornet, assigning him duo nicknames with Stephon Castle (White Castle) and Wemby (French Vanilla). He just seemed so perfect for the team and the culture in SA. Come to think of it, I can't think of many things he did wrong during the year at all.

Kornet has been a strong asset for San Antonio this season

I wouldn't call him flawless, but he filled the role he was brought in to address pretty damn well. He's had his ups and downs in the playoffs during this run, but you'd have thought he's only had downs by the way Mitch Johnson deployed him last night.

The Coach of the Year finalist seems to keep forgetting what got the Spurs to 62 games and into the NBA Finals. Solid contributions from bench players have been an asset for this team, and Johnson keeps forgetting that. The Western Conference Finals should have been a learning experience. He was forced to sit Wemby after The Alien picked up his fifth foul in Game 7 against OKC.

Kornet entered the game and played just fine, despite having some trouble in that series as well. Vic came back in with fresher legs and helped the Spurs close the game. Afterward, Mitch admitted that Wembanyama needed that rest, so being forced to play Luke was a positive.

That was less than two weeks ago, so it should be pretty fresh in his mind, yet Wembanyama played 44 minutes, including 23 in the second half, anyway.

As a 7'4" center who has never even been to the playoffs before, let alone made an NBA Finals run, that's a huge burden to place on his body. He was understandably gassed late in the game and couldn't make a shot or come up with many defensive stops.

There were several reasons why the Spurs lost that game: De'Aaron Fox was so bad in the final two periods that he's being accused of point-shaving on social media, Castle and Julian Champagnie couldn't make shots, and the list goes on. But the head coach is there for structure. He's supposed to pull the right strings to get games like last night's home, and he cut the cords instead.

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