De’Aaron Fox’s 28-year-old legs ain’t what they used to be.
The Spurs guard’s confidence burned the Spurs and potentially sealed their Finals fate when his — as labeled by Charles Barkley — “dumbass” decision to attempt a layup in the final 11 seconds resulted in a block that paved the way for OG Anunoby’s game-winning and series-changing tip-in in the Knicks’ win.
“I just thought I’d be able to outrun him,” Fox said.
Fox’s decision from the 107-106 loss now has a spot alongside Ray Allen’s 2013 3-pointer in the pantheon of brutal Spurs Finals moments and it may be hard for fans to forgive him for this one.
The veteran guard’s questionable decision perhaps will be what swings this series.
With the Spurs leading 106-105 and roughly 18 seconds remaining, Jalen Brunson missed a shot and the fight for the rebound led to the ball being tipped past half court.
Fox had a clean path to the ball and gained possession near the paint with approximately 13 seconds remaining with Anunoby on his tail and then made a decision that could be rued in San Antonio for decades.
Rather than pull up and make the Knicks foul him, which would give the Spurs the chance to grab a two-point lead and potentially three, he opted to go for the contested layup.
Anunoby, one of the sport’s premier defenders, blocked Fox, which led to the Knicks gaining possession and he became a Knicks legend with his tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining resulting in a 3-1 series lead.
“Haven’t scored,” Fox said of his decision. “Try to get a layup get up three, force them to need a 3. OG made a good block.”
Fox has earned universal criticism for his decision, especially since the easy option to force the Knicks into a foul seemed like the most logical decision.
Charles Barkley shredded Fox on ESPN during his tirade against a Spurs team he labeled as “the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization.”
He described Fox’s decision as “bonehead.”
“That was a dumbass play,” Barkley said. “He did not have to shoot that ball.”
To make matters worse for Fox, his sloppy play in the second half helped fuel the Knicks’ comeback.
He turned the ball over four times in the second half, including one in the fourth quarter — although one could argue his decision in the final minute may as well have been a turnover.
The veteran is the elder statesman in a young Spurs lineup that primarily lacked playoff experience before this run to the Finals, yet all that experience failed him when he needed it most.
“We’ve got to try to put it behind us,” Fox said, per The Athletic. “Get back to the things that we’ve done well in these games. … We have to figure out a way to hold the lead. We’ve been able to build double-digit leads in all four of these games, and we’ve got to figure out a way to sustain that.
“It obviously looks like a steep hill, but this is something that’s happened before. … We feel like we have a team that is able to come back from this, but we have to take this one game at a time.”
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