A brilliant second half by Victor Wembanyama helped bring the San Antonio Spurs back from a 14-point deficit to tie the New York Knicks late in Friday’s Game 2.
However, the French superstar will likely want to forget the final 15 seconds of the contest, as his late turnover resulted in a foul that gave the Knicks a one-point lead. Wembanyama’s chance for redemption came and went when his potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer rimmed out, making New York just the third team in NBA Finals history to win the first two contests on the road.
Wembanyama didn’t hide postgame from the poor finish, immediately shouldering the blame when asked about the turnover.
“I threw that one away. I messed up,” Wembanyama said. “We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game. This game was ours. 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 for next game? Absolutely.”
Wembanyama’s costly turnover flipped the outcome of a tightly-contested game. The Spurs had just rebounded a Knicks missed shot and could have held onto the ball for a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. At worst, a missed shot would’ve sent the contest to overtime.
However, Wembanyama looked for a quick outlet pass and ended up bouncing the ball off teammate Stephon Castle’s back. Jalen Brunson quickly grabbed the errant toss and was immediately fouled by Wembanyama. Brunson made one of two free throws, which proved to be enough after Wembanyama’s possible winner hit the back rim.
“Of course, I liked the shot,” Wembanyama said about the final play. “I feel like in this moment you need to shoot to score. In moments like this, results matter more than process, if you know what I mean. We need to score. I need to score. That’s the whole point.”
Wembanyama had another sluggish start in the Finals, scoring just seven points in the opening half against more swarming defense by Karl-Anthony Towns. Although Wembanyama poured in 22 points in the second half, the slow start isn’t making things easy for the West champs.
“We need to put ourselves in better conditions. We are digging ourselves a hole,” Wembanyama said. “We need to figure it out. We need to keep working on it.”
Game 3 is set for Monday in New York, where the Spurs will look to begin their quest to become the first team to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two games at home.
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