The Madison Square Garden echoed with the New York Knicks fans singing to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” After all, 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,” Webber said on his appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. “What San Antonio did kind of is unforgivable as a team.

“You have so many players that can make so many decisions for no one to say, ‘Hey, let’s get a good a shot,’ or, ‘By the way, we have the tallest player on the floor on our team, let’s go inside.’ It just shows there needs to be some common sense along with wonderful skills that’s in this game.”

The Spurs were looking strong to tie the series 2-2 and return home with a possibility of winning it all. However, the team that totaled 76 points in the first half only put up 30 to trail 3-1, on the verge of ending their season. But, as Webber said, it was their arrogance that probably took over.

Firstly, the Spurs failed to utilize the 7’4″ Victor Wembanyama. 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, coach Mitch Johnson forgot the critical stage of the game and took him away from the paint, thinking it would work. It didn’t.

Then came De’Aaron Fox’s mistakes. With 13.5 seconds to go and the Spurs leading 106-105, Fox could’ve dribbled out the clock or forced a foul to put his team up by three. Instead, he drove in for a layup and was denied by OG Anunoby. The possession went to the Knicks, but Jalen Brunson’s three-pointer fell short, returning after hitting the rim. Just then, Anunoby jumped higher than anyone and simply tipped the ball into the bucket again for two points, bringing the Knicks back up to 106-107.

Only 2.1 seconds were remaining in the game then. Nothing happened after that.

The Knicks’ resilience to play through the deficit was a bright spot that no one can deny. But the very game showed the Spurs’ biggest analytical lapses. And that’s why Webber called the game “arrogant.”

“I have a lot of friends that are pitchers who talk they don’t remember ever throwing a home run. You have to forget about the next pitch. But to me, that’s positive arrogance. You can’t deal on the last play. However, when there’s time, space, and game left and there’s players and you understand where you are in the nuance and how hard it is to get back in the game, at that time, you’re supposed not start milking the clock but play deliberate, thoughtful basketball.

“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.”

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. Yet, they continued to go from the arc instead of getting into the paint.

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 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.

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.”