De'Aaron Fox Backed By Spurs Coach Johnson After Tough Game 4

The San Antonio Spurs face elimination in the NBA Finals, yet Mitch Johnson is publicly backing De'Aaron Fox to respond. The New York Knicks lead the series 3-1 after their dramatic Game 4 comeback, leaving the Spurs needing three straight victories to claim the title.

Fox struggled late in that defeat, but Johnson insists the Spurs will again trust Fox with the ball in key moments. San Antonio must now recover quickly ahead of Game 5, with the Knicks one win away from a first championship since 1973.

Johnson underlined that outside reaction will not affect how the San Antonio Spurs approach the NBA Finals. "I don't get into social media, Johnson said. I think I've been fired 212 times, and we've traded Fox 72 times. People have their opinions.

I don't care. I care what the people that matter in our building, our organization, in that locker room, that they know how I feel. De'Aaron Fox will have the basketball in his hands at the end of the game tomorrow, and I have the utmost confidence he's going to deliver like he's done countless times for us. "

Fox has also addressed the criticism following Game 4, stressing that outside noise holds little value. "It's not like people have my phone number and can call me, Fox quipped. I don't watch those shows. It doesn't matter. It is what it is. Can't change it now. It is what it is. We're trying to move on from that, continue to learn from the mistakes we made, how we lost the lead, finished the game poorly. We think about the next game. "

Victor Wembanyama echoed that mindset, stating that belief inside the San Antonio Spurs camp remains strong despite the NBA Finals deficit. "Everybody thinks, everybody knows, we're going to do it, the Frenchman said. We need to isolate that one game and take it one game at a time. It would be a mistake to waste our energy on multiple games. It's one game at a time. "

Game 4 turned when the Spurs allowed the Knicks to erase a 29-point gap, which became the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. New York eventually edged a 107-106 victory, seizing full momentum and placing huge pressure on San Antonio.

Game	Match-up	Largest Spurs lead	Final score	Series score
Game 4	San Antonio Spurs vs New York Knicks	29 points	Knicks 107-106 Spurs	Knicks lead 3-1

Fox endured a difficult closing period during that collapse. The guard shot 1-of-5 from the field in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over four times, as the Knicks completed the rally and moved within one victory of the championship.

The comeback leaves the Spurs needing to repeat one of the rarest feats in league history. To lift the trophy, San Antonio must become only the second team to overturn a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, matching the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers’ achievement.

Final from New York! @FrostBank | #ad pic.twitter.com/vueru3UzTcSan Antonio Spurs (@spurs) June 11, 2026

Inside the locker room, the message from Johnson, Fox and Wembanyama centres on short-term focus. The Spurs accept the mistakes that cost Game 4 yet stress the need to adjust, protect leads better and treat every remaining contest as a separate challenge.