NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama is not shying away from the spotlight in the NBA Finals, and the San Antonio Spurs would not want it any other way.
Less than 48 hours after missing a shot at the end of Game 2 that would have beaten the New York Knicks and evened the series, the 22-year-old big man from France who is becoming the face of the league said the pressure of the situation does not bother him as the Spurs enter Game 3 facing a 2-0 deficit.
“There’s really no reason to overthink it,” Wembanyama said Sunday. “This is what I’m built for.”
Wembanyama has not been the problem for the Spurs. He led them with 26 points in the series opener and had a Game 2-high 29 points.
Teammate Keldon Johnson's message after Wembanyama's would-be game-winning jumper clanked off the rim and out is, “Shoot it again.”
“He’s our guy,” Johnson said. "From day one, he’s been our guy. He’s the engine offensively and defensively. You can’t make every game-winner, but you can’t make a shot you don’t take. And we’re living with that shot. Every day of the week, twice on Sundays, we’re living with Vic taking our game-winning shot because that’s our guy and that’s the belief that we have in Victor.”
The belief team-wide is strong, players said before practicing at Madison Square Garden, where they know they'll confront a hostile atmosphere on Monday night. Guard Stephon Castle called each of the first two games at home winnable, but falling short has ratcheted up the urgency.
“Our sense of urgency is probably the highest it’s been all playoffs,” said Castle, who insists his ankle feels better than expected after injuring it Friday night. “I think it’s just human nature to come out with a certain sense of urgency, especially after a loss.”
San Antonio lost back-to-back games to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals, though that came after winning the opener. The Spurs have not lost three in a row all season.
“If they’re not desperate now, I don’t know,” Knicks guard Deuce McBride said. “They know their backs are against the wall, and they’re going to have to come out and they’re going to have to fight. We’re going to be ready, we’re going to exceed that and we’re going to do everything we can do to bring home a win.”
Trying to turn things around, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had not yet taken a walk around New York City before running practice Sunday. He and his staff maintained the same routine they've gone through all playoffs.
“You dig into the film, you argue, beat yourself up,” Johnson said. “You give each other feedback, figure out how to help the guys for the next game.”
One of his takeaways is a feeling his team has not played up to its standard as much as New York, which has won 13 in a row. Perhaps going on the road will help.
The Spurs are 6-3 on the road this postseason, including a win in Game 7 of the West finals at the defending champion Thunder. Keldon Johnson said he and his teammates believe they can win “regardless of where we’re playing at, whether it’s here, on Mars, away, home.”
Center Luke Kornet thinks there's something fun about the environment.
“All the adversity, noise and all that stuff just honestly helps you sharpen up and kind of focus even more on the basketball,” said Kornet, who played his first two NBA seasons with the Knicks from 2017-19. “That kind of you-against-everybody-else-in-the-building atmosphere, the pressure kind of brings you together.”
The pressure has never been higher, given that no team in league history has lost the first two games of the finals at home and gone on to win the title. Veteran leaders hope the Spurs can park the past and not dwell on a gut-wrenching defeat.
“The only thing that matters is what’s in front of us right now,” forward Harrison Barnes said. “We can’t take last game and bring it into this game. You can learn from it, but I think the biggest thing for us how do we focus on making the plays, focus in on just how to begin as a team and just going out there and just playing free.”
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