SAN ANTONIO (AP) — As Devin Vassell reflected on what could have been for the San Antonio Spurs, reality loudly interrupted his thoughts.
The sounds of the New York Knicks and their fans celebrating the team's first NBA championship since 1973 spilled into the recesses of the Frost Bank Center, drowning out Vassell's postgame interview.
“Our goal was to win, obviously," Vassell said. "We don’t want a participation trophy to where we just got here; we wanted
to win.”
New York point guard Jalen Brunson stymied that dream, scoring 45 points to lead New York to a 94-90 victory on Saturday night as the Knicks clinched the series 4-1.
The Spurs built double-digit leads in the first quarter of every game of the finals, but the Knicks rallied to win all but Game 3.
That San Antonio was even in the conversation was surprising to most.
“Shout out to the Spurs, they are the real deal,” New York center Karl-Anthony Towns said.
The Spurs exceeded preseason expectations by toppling 2024 champion Oklahoma City to win the Western Conference with a youthful roster led by 22-year-old superstar Victor Wembanyama.
San Antonio won 62 games to tie for the second-most victories in franchise history just two seasons after a second straight 22-win season.
There was much for the Spurs to celebrate this season, just not on Saturday night.
"Yeah, it’s a little early to go there," San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said.
The Spurs were seeking their sixth league championship and first since 2014 after missing the postseason for six straight seasons.
The lack of postseason success hurt San Antonio in the closing minutes of each loss as New York took advantage of every mistake to rally.
“The margin of error is very thin,” Wembanyama said. “Our domination stats are absolute. We absolutely dominated for most of the series. But our errors, our mistakes, are punished so hard that we can’t have ups and downs like this.”
Along with Wembanyama, the Spurs have 21-year-old Stephon Castle and 20-year-old Dylan Harper to build around and now they have the anger and frustration of what might have been to add to it.
“I hope they take the same thing that we’ve taken from our success,” Johnson said. “I hope it leads to them be hungrier than they’ve ever been, and I hope it leads them to be more motivated than they’ve ever been, and hopefully that leads them to be more — yeah, just to continue to improve in every facet."
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