For five minutes on Friday night, it looked like the San Antonio Spurs were on their way to completing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the NBA Finals. Instead, they are facing a harash reality: being in an 0-2 series deficit.
Despite rallying from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter and taking the lead in the final minutes, the Spurs suffered a heartbreaking 105-104 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Frost Bank Center, putting San Antonio in an 0-2
hole as the series shifts to Madison Square Garden.
“We weren’t playing good enough,” Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said. “We weren’t consistent enough in the phases of the game. It felt like we chased the game a little bit and they [Knicks] made some tough shots at the end of the shot clock. I thought that affected our approach at times and took away from trying to play our brand of basketball.”
After a strong first quarter, the Spurs were outscored 31-18 in the second quarter thanks to the play of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. Victor Wembanyama, who said he needed to be better after Game 1, had just seven points on four shot attempts in the first half.
Wembanyama turned things around in the second half as he finished the game with 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocks while being a key cog in San Antonio’s comeback effort on both ends of the floor. De’Aaron Fox bounced back from a poor outing in Game 1 to score 20 points as the Spurs chipped away at New York’s lead.
With the Spurs trailing 97-83 with 6:03 remaining, San Antonio’s defense tightened, shots started to fall, the crowd came alive, and the Spurs began getting stops that turned into transition points. Wembanyama gave the Spurs the lead when he was fouled on an attempt, hitting the free throw to put his team up one. When it appeared momentum had shifted, New York responded.
“I threw that one away. I messed up. We needed to win that game. This game was ours,” Wembanyama said of his turnover at the end of the game. “But at this point, it’s done. Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely.”
Jalen Brunson delivered in the game’s biggest moments, which is why he’s earned the nickname “Captain Clutch”. Wembanyama passed the ball, but it went off the back of Stephon Castle. Wemby fouled Brunson who dived to the court for the ball, sending him to the free throw line. Brunson knocked down the go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left, giving New York the 105-104 lead.
“We showed tremendous desperation, urgency, and competitive response,” Johnson said of the Spurs’ fourth quarter rally. “Hopefully we can try to bottle that up so we don’t have to be down to play at that same level.”
The Spurs still had one final chance. Wembanyama’s shot attempt hit iron as time expired, sending the thousands of Knicks fans who made the trip into a frenzy. Anthony-Towns led the way for the Knicks with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Bridges added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Brunson chipped in 20 points despite a difficult shooting night, going 7-for-25 from the floor.
“I’m still very blurry, and that’s the whole problem,” Wembanyama said of the final moments down the stretch. “I need to have more poise, more control over the game.”
The loss stings for San Antonio because they were so close. After struggling offensively for long stretches and having the Knicks control much of the game, the Spurs nearly tied the series up at one game apiece and sent their fans honking into the night.
The comeback will be remembered, but so will the heartbreaking ending. Now, the Spurs are in unfamiliar territory: needing to win on the road at Madison Square Garden to get back into the series.
While things seem daunting, the Finals are far from over. But for one night in June in San Antonio, a rally became a heartbreaking reminder of how thin the margin for error can be on basketball’s biggest stage.
Game Notes
- Through two games, Jalen Brunson is 19-for-56 from the field against the Spurs. We can’t chalk it up to Brunson having a bad shooting night. This is more credit for the swarming defense that the Spurs have played on him.
- Keldon Johnson played 15 minutes and was 1-of-4 from the floor. Not exactly the numbers the Spurs need from their sixth man of the year.
- Julian didn’t have the best night, but his rebounding made up for the poor shooting night.
- The series is not over, but it has gotten harder with two games in New York and down 0-2.
- If the Spurs can play like they did over the final six minutes in Game 2 to start Game 3, they will get themselves back in the series.
