NBA FINALS: KNICKS VS. SPURS

June 4, 2026

Dylan Harper

San Antonio Spurs

Practice Day

Q. I think you subbed out for the final time last night with about four minutes to play. Then you have to watch from the bench. You guys getting that lead back and ultimately letting up an 11-0 run. What's that balance like knowing you guys are going to be demanding minutes to close games? Talk me through that a little.

DYLAN HARPER: Yeah, I feel like everyone wants to be out there in those times and to close the game out. But we won 62 games, we made it this far. So I'm going to keep trusting in the coaching staff, trusting in Mitch and just having that trust, knowing that they know what's best for the team. And if they think that's the best thing for the team and that helps us win the most, I'm all for it.

Obviously you want to be out there, but ain't nothing to hang my head on.

Q. Dylan, the last couple of games, Mitch has had you, De'Aaron and Steph on the court at the same time. In terms of your offensive game and your flow, do you like the three of you being on the court at the same time? And then B, are there any adjustments you make with those two other guys on the floor at the same time?

DYLAN HARPER: Yeah, being on the floor with them two, it opens the game so much for me, and them two and everyone else on the floor. We all kind of have the ability to get to the rim and get to the paint, just open up the world for everyone else.

Being on the floor with them, it's a blessing. It opens up things for me, opens up things for Vic, Steph, Fox and whoever else is on the floor with us.

I enjoy being on the floor with them. Adjusting, really just being off the ball I feel like is nothing new for me. I've kind of been off the ball all year. I kind of feel like I can do whatever the team needs me to do to go out there and win, and I feel like us putting three guards out there is pretty unstoppable.

Q. How do you feel as a 20-year-old after a game like that in the Finals the first time? I guess it's tough. I wanted to know, obviously your dad won five rings, so did he say something to you prior to the Finals, like some kind of advice about how to handle it?

DYLAN HARPER: I feel good. My first year in the league and being at the Finals is a blessing, so I can't really complain about the position I'm in. I feel like this is every kid's dream, every basketball player's dream. Regardless of what went down yesterday, I'm just blessed to be in this position and try to get one more, try to get some more.

But really, me and my dad talk here and there. He gave me little tips about the Finals and things like that, but ultimately you've got to experience it on your own to kind of know how to navigate through it.

Q. In reference to the Game 7, you guys played with a lot of energy, a lot of focus. If you were to compare the type of energy and focus that you guys had in Game 7, how do you compare it to last night, and how do you expect to bounce back in this series when the energy needs to be a lot higher?

DYLAN HARPER: Yeah, I feel like both were down from Game 1. I feel like Game 7, back against the wall, whoever wins that game makes it to the Finals. I feel like we had more of that drive and were a little more desperate in a sense.

But I feel like it's the NBA Finals and we've got to be desperate every game, no matter what's at stake, what the score is. You always got to find a way out of it, just get wins and win the series.

For us, we've just got to stay with our brand of basketball. We got here for a reason. We didn't get here because we started switching things up. We've kind of been the same all year. I feel like we just have to do that times ten.

Q. I know that you've got to be on the floor to impact the game, and rotation is what it is. But if you were on the floor, especially in crunch, you attacking, getting into the paint, starting the collapse of the defense but also making sure Vic can touch the ball within that time to do what he needs to do if he sees a good matchup?

DYLAN HARPER: Yeah, there's definitely a middle ground in that. I feel like our best offense is kind of transitioning and getting out, but I feel like once we get into half court, it's more how do we put the right guys in the right spots to execute. I feel like yesterday we could have did a better job, putting Fox, Vic, Steph, Devin, Julian, everyone in the right spots and just being sharper.

The biggest thing for me is just stay in attack mode, but there's also a time and place to do it.

Q. Maria Harper, quite the hooper. Your brother is in the league. Did you speak to any of them after the game? Did they give you any advice before or after the game, from your mom or big bro?

DYLAN HARPER: Yeah, I spoke to all my family. I spoke to my mom, my dad, my brother, my little sister, everyone else. But like I said, you've got to go through your own experience to know what it's like. I feel like there's a bunch of tidbits that they can give you here and there, but I think for me, I'm just trying to find my way through it.

I feel like the biggest thing for me is how can I bring this team together and how can we all just get back to doing what we were doing.

Q. I wanted to know from you if you feel the spirit of the team is similar to when you guys fell behind in the other series, or if because it's the Finals, it's a little tougher to bounce back and to get back on your feet for Game 2.

DYLAN HARPER: Yeah, every series holds its different kind of emotions and different everything. But I feel like for us as a group, those emotions are the same, but obviously with a lot more desperation because we're in the Finals and there's no second chance at this.

So there's definitely more desperation in that sense. But I feel like emotions are the same. I feel like we're going to stay together as a group, and we're just going to keep on attacking the days.

Q. How do you view the defensive effort you had collectively on Brunson? It was inefficient the first three quarters; he got going. Was it just a great player? How do you view that?

DYLAN HARPER: I feel like he's a great player, obviously, what he's able to do and how he gets to his spots and his angles. I feel like we did a pretty good job. Obviously fourth-quarter crunch time there's things we need to clean up and things that everyone could have did better.

But he's a big-time player, so he's going to make shots like that. We're just going to have to live with making it as tough as we can.