If it’s true that this young, Victor Wembanyama-led San Antonio Spurs team must endure postseason heartbreak before winning an NBA Championship, that painful lesson arrived in the cruelest fashion imaginable Wednesday night (June 10) with a 107-106 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4.
What began as the largest halftime lead ever held by a road team in NBA Finals history ended as the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, as the Knicks stormed back in the second half to secure a 107-106 victory and seized a 3-1 series lead.
When asked how the team can refocus after such a devastating defeat, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said an emotional response was natural, but stressed the importance of quickly resetting ahead of Game 5 on Saturday.
“I told them to feel the emotion tonight because they’re competitive, and that’s unhumanly impossible to not, and tomorrow to take all the emotion out,” he said. “They better be ready to play in two days and win.”
Wemby added: “It was painful, of course. We work too hard and give up our leads. It just hurts.”
It hurts Spurs fans, too, to watch a commanding lead evaporate in the second half right before our eyes. And as agonizing as it is to relive, here are the five most heartbreaking moments from Game 4.
With 1:47 remaining in the game and the Spurs up 104-103, Wemby was sent to the free-throw line after being fouled by OG Anunoby. He had been steady at the stripe up to that point, going 4-for-5 on the night. But at a crucial moment, he missed both attempts. “You might work on your form [for] hours and hours [but] at the end of the day it’s just a shot,” Wemby said about the misses. “So, you need to shoot it the normal way.”
On the very next possession after Wemby’s two missed free throws, Knicks star Jalen Brunson attacked the paint against Stephon Castle and hit a floater to give New York its first lead of the night. The Spurs’ once-dominating advantage had officially disappeared, and from there the Knicks seized all the momentum.
The Spurs briefly regained the lead, 106-105, on a pair of clutch Stephon Castle free throws. After Jalen Brunson missed a floater off the glass with 16 seconds left on the other end, the rebound was deflected and wound up in De’Aaron Fox’s hands in the backcourt with 13 seconds remaining. Rather than dribble and take time off the clock, so New York would be forced to foul him, Fox attacked the rim to push the lead to three. But Anunoby met him at the rim and blocked his shot, and the Knicks regained control of the ball. “I just thought I’d be able to outrun [Anunoby],” Fox said after the game.
With 5.7 seconds left and the Spurs clinging to a one-point lead, Anunoby inbounded the ball to Brunson, who shot a deep three over Wemby’s outstretched arm. The shot came up short, but with no one guarding Anunoby on the inbound, he ran untouched into the paint and tipped it in with 1.2 seconds remaining.
The Spurs had a final chance to win the game with 1.2 seconds, but Dylan Harper’s inbound lob toward a cutting Castle didn’t get to him cleanly. Castle bobbled the ball as the final buzzer sounded, and Madison Square Garden erupted.