\u201cI’m still very blurry,\u201d Wembanyama said Friday night when asked about the final possessions of Game 2. \u201cThat’s the whole problem. I need to have more poise, more control over the game. I’m not going to go through the whole possessions, but that’s the general image.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wemby’s costly turnover in the finals seconds of Game 2…<\/p>\n
Tough. pic.twitter.com\/96BRj8L5Aj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Wembanyama and the young Spurs<\/a> have had a surprising amount of poise during their postseason run. At every turn, they have debunked one of the NBA\u2019s oldest postseason clich\u00e9s: Even the game\u2019s best players and dynastic teams need to earn their stripes through a few years of crushing losses before winning the championship.<\/p>\n It took Steph Curry\u2019s Warriors three trips to the playoffs to finally come through and win the championship. Jayson Tatum and the Celtics fell short six times before winning the \u201924 title. LeBron James was 27 when he won his first championship in 2012. Michael Jordan was 28. <\/p>\n The 22-year-old Wembanyama and the Spurs haven\u2019t seemed to care. After winning 22 games his rookie year and 34 last season, San Antonio went 62\u201320 to earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Spurs took care of the Trail Blazers in the first round in five games. In the second round, San Antonio looked like an inexperienced team in a Game 1 loss<\/a> to the Timberwolves, but it rallied to win four of the next five games. In the conference finals, the Spurs won Game 6 and Game 7 to eliminate the defending-champion Thunder, a team crowned last year as an unstoppable force in the Western Conference. <\/p>\n Perhaps that old clich\u00e9 will finally ring true in the Finals. So far, it has. And that emotional seven-game series against the Thunder, one that ended with Wembanyama in tears on the floor<\/a>, could be a factor.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to never get too high, never get too low,\u201d Wembayama said. \u201cPersonally, I think I could have been better in recovering from the high of the conference finals. But, I mean, here we are. We can’t change the past now. We’re already focused on Game 3.\u201d <\/p>\n Chris Mannix: The Knicks Keep Finding a Way, and a Championship Is Within Reach<\/a><\/p>\n While the Spurs were exchanging haymakers with Oklahoma City<\/a> for seven games, the Knicks were at home resting. New York swept the 76ers and the Cavaliers to earn its spot in the Finals and now has won 13 straight playoff games\u2014tied for the second-longest winning streak in postseason history.<\/p>\n Since 1971, there have been seven previous Finals matchups between one team coming off a sweep in the conference finals and the other fresh off a seven-game series. Unsurprisingly, the team that swept the previous round has gone on to win five of those seven Finals.<\/p>\n The only two teams coming off a seven-game series that were able to defeat an opponent that swept the conference finals featured two of the best players of all time\u2014LeBron James\u2019s 2012\u201313 Heat and Michael Jordan\u2019s 1997\u201398 Bulls. Both series featured an iconic shot, too, in Ray Allen\u2019s game-tying corner three<\/a> and Jordan\u2019s step-back for the win<\/a> against Utah.<\/p>\n NBA Finals matchups: Team that swept conference finals vs. Team that went seven games in conference finals (since 1971)<\/p>\n YEAR<\/p>\n WON CONF. FINALS IN 7<\/p>\n SWEPT CONF. FINALS<\/p>\n FINALS RESULT<\/p>\n 2026<\/p>\n Spurs<\/p>\n Knicks<\/p>\n TBD<\/p>\n 2023<\/p>\n Heat<\/p>\n Nuggets<\/p>\n Nuggets in 5<\/p>\n 2013<\/p>\n Heat<\/p>\n Spurs<\/p>\n Heat in 7<\/p>\n 2001<\/p>\n 76ers<\/p>\n Lakers<\/p>\n Lakers in 5<\/p>\n 1998<\/p>\n Bulls<\/p>\n Jazz<\/p>\n Bulls in 6<\/p>\n 1996<\/p>\n SuperSonics<\/p>\n Bulls<\/p>\n Bulls in 6<\/p>\n 1987<\/p>\n Celtics<\/p>\n Lakers<\/p>\n Lakers in 6<\/p>\n 1982<\/p>\n 76ers<\/p>\n Lakers<\/p>\n Lakers in 6<\/p>\n Whether it is physical, mental or emotional fatigue from their Western Conference finals bout against the Thunder (or a combination of the three), Wembanyama and the Spurs have yet to be at their best against the Knicks. But if Wemby has taught the rest of the NBA anything over his short three-year career, it\u2019s that any previous precedent set will be challenged when the 7\u20194\u201d phenom is on the floor.<\/p>\n This series is far from over.<\/p>\n More NBA from Sports Illustrated![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a>