Dylan Harper Is Ready For The Moment

That's what happened tonight. The Spurs' stars finally showed up, though the author of the game's biggest moments was a rookie. Seven electric games into his NBA playoff career, it's time to talk about Dylan Harper. The box score will say Harper had a decent Game 2, with 11 points on 10 shots, seven boards, five assists, and two steals. The experience of watching him put together that stat line will have the observer thinking heretical thoughts about dynasties, superfluous All-NBA teammates, and the commissioner's office taking regulatory action against the Spurs for getting another ball-handler this capable. Harper is simply good at everything. He knows where to be, itself a somewhat complicated challenge given that he typically plays with at least one other point guard. Harper is less experienced than Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox, but he's a better shooter than either, leaving him to attack shifting defenses and move around behind the play while his teammates explode through people and shift around them, respectively. Harper's skillset is not yet as polished as those guys', but it is more well-rounded. You can see it in his confidence around the three-point arc, where he's been popping it with less hesitation with each passing month. You can see it as a help defender, where he finds ways to continually disrupt traffic in passing lanes without overexposing the Spurs' weak side (in fairness, overexposing the Spurs' weak side is basically impossible, given that Victor Wembanyama patrols it). Mostly, you can see it in transition: Give Harper a head of steam, and he'll finish on anyone. His skill as a finisher around the rack jumped off the screen in his NBA debut against the Dallas Mavericks back in October, and he's only improved as an open-court decision maker as the season's progressed.