The road to the Larry O’Brien Trophy was never meant to be easy. Against the New York Knicks, the San Antonio Spurs flashed some of that playoff magic in their loss to the Knicks. Victor Wembanyama notched a double-double with a team-high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Julian Champagnie also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Speaking of rebounds, the boys will hope to tie up the series in their next outing despite some flashes of good basketball against their Eastern Conference counterparts.
If you ever wondered what it looks like if Michael Jordan was a seven-footer taking a jump shot from the top of the elbow, I give you exhibit A:
Victor Wembanyama blocked a shot, took a moment to preen, and then rolled back into frame to drain a three. It’s flashy work, but someone has to do it.
This Dylan Harper. No moment’s too big for him.
Devin Vassell lasered this pass to De’Aaron Fox for the wide open look. When the good guys were able to counter the Knicks’ hot start, the Spurs looked somewhat sharp on the offensive end, despite the many missed threes. The team averaged 28 assists per game this season so they will look to improve upon Wednesday’s 16 assist effort in the Game 1 loss.
Julian Champagnie was on a heater tonight. Not only did the Spurs forward go a scorching 5 – 10 from downtown on Wednesday night, but coming down with 10 boards for the double-double was a nice touch as well.
Garbage pickup was on Wednesday, and Stephon Castle cleaned up as he hustled for the offensive board and put-back.
Harper just continued to impress. Any adjustments the Spurs make in Game 2 will probably involve a touch more minutes for Harper, even though he logged a decent-sized 27:31 minutes off the bench.
Champagnie heat-checked himself into taking a no-look shot from the corner.
It’s really crazy just watching Dylan Harper’s moves around the rim and instantly be reminded of the magic Manu Ginóbili would pull off. These two players have a knack for getting the best out of every angle and crevice between outstretched arms and the basket to finagle that basketball in. Maybe it’s because they’re left-handed. Maybe it’s (you sang that jingle in your head as you read it, didn’t you?).
Devin Vassell continues to do yeoman’s work on the court on the offensive and defensive end, but nothing was yeoman-like about this emphatic dunk. The bounce pass from Fox was also simple, quick, but pretty (in Michael Scott’s voice,“ TWSS”).
Good things happen when Wembanyama takes it to the hoop . . . is exactly what Mitch Johnson should have tattooed on the underside of his arms so that when he’s waving in plays while coaching on the floor the team can permanently see the best plan of action inked in a sleeve on his arm.
The NBA Finals are back in San Antonio, where they belong. It’s a long series, folks. Buckle in because it’s only going to get crazier. We love the corgi. But now they just have to go out there and do this without the corgi. It’ll be hard, but nothing in life worth having comes easy. I took that quote from Dr. Bob Kelso in Scrubs. If you’re a fan of the show, the reboot is actually good. Same heart, new laughs. What has two thumbs and says Go Spurs Go? Bob Kelso Son Q. Trinh, nice to meet you.
If you missed the game because you were too busy changing your name to “Jan Itor”, here are the full-game highlights:
Next up, the Spurs remain at home to take on the Knicks in Game 2 on Friday, June 5, 2026.
