The heat has been turned up in San Antonio.
Game 2 between the Knicks and Spurs on Friday night has seen a marked increase in physical play by both teams as they seek an edge at the Frost Bank Center.
It’s the Knicks, however, getting most of the attention from the officials.
In a span of just 16 seconds of gameplay, Josh Hart was hit with a Flagrant 1 foul and Mitchell Robinson got a technical for his troubles.
Hart, diving for a loose ball, let his hand linger perhaps a little too long on Devin Vassell’s ankle, sending the Spurs guard tumbling to the floor.
“The contact was unnecessary,” the lead official said, much to the delight of the San Antonio crowd.
Robinson, no stranger to foul trouble, was the recipient of a dubious and one-sided call as he got into a shoving match with Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, with the French center selling his end of things a little better to the official.
“I don’t like that call,” ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson said on the broadcast. “They’re both being physical… Wemby pushes him, and then they push each other back, and that’s where the technical occurs on Mitchell Robinson.”
“That should be a double technical,” play-by-play man Mike Green opined.
Bringing some attitude to the proceedings seem to be working for the Knicks, who trailed by as much as 12, but ended the first half leading 56-52.
