Victor Wembanyama isn’t bothering with the what-ifs anymore. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about them.
The San Antonio Spurs superstar acknowledged Friday that there were countless opportunities to prevent the historic 29-point collapse against the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. But with elimination looming in Game 5 on Saturday, he says the team has already turned the page.
“Of course, there were 1,000 ways that we could have not lost that game,” Wembanyama said, via SNY. “But it feels like there was a time to process that and really dwell on it, but not anymore.”
The Spurs entered the locker room at halftime riding high, having set an NBA Finals record with 14 three-pointers in the first two quarters. Wembanyama himself looked dominant, putting up 16 points and six rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting. The lead stretched to 29 points early in the third quarter. Then everything fell apart.
San Antonio managed just 30 points in the entire second half. The Knicks, by contrast, erupted for 67. The Spurs shot 8-of-39 from the field after the break, including a frigid 3-of-17 from deep, and committed nine turnovers against just six assists.
Wembanyama was not immune to the collapse. He shot 3-of-14 in the second half and missed two critical free throws with San Antonio trailing by one and 1:47 left on the clock. The rookie phenom appeared to run out of gas as the Knicks’ physical defense tightened its grip.
After the loss, Wembanyama pointed to “greediness” as a factor in the Spurs’ unraveling. He expanded on that assessment a day later.
“Yeah, absolutely, greediness was [an issue for us],” he said. “I guess the general thing would be giving them less opportunities rather than [us] doing something incredible.”
The collapse was the largest blown lead in NBA Finals history, and it has left the Spurs facing a 3-1 series deficit. Head coach Mitch Johnson’s squad must now regroup quickly for a win-or-go-home Game 5 at Frost Bank Center.
History is not on their side. Only one NBA Finals team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit — the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. But Wembanyama and the Spurs aren’t dwelling on that number either.
“There was a time to process that, and we did,” Wembanyama said. “Now it’s about the next game.”
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