The San Antonio Spurs‘ first championship appearance in the Victor Wembanyama era ended in defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks on Saturday night.
Heading to the Finals, the Spurs were favored to win it all after they dethroned the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a Game 7 on the road. However, despite leading by double digits in every game of the 2026 NBA Finals, the Spurs won only one game.
Advertisement
According to “Inside the NBA” co-host Kenny Smith, who won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995, the Spurs just did not close out periods well.
“Winning a championship is about starting and ending quarters,” said Smith. “The Spurs have not ended quarters well. I was so disappointed with two and a half minutes to go, if you’re trying to get back in the series, to see Victor Wembanyama on the bench, he has two fouls, but you get six. And you have Dylan Harper, who doesn’t come back until one minute. Those two guys were the reason why the Knicks were having trouble.”
Advertisement
Spurs missed a chance to pad the lead before halftime
Wembanyama is, of course, the heart and soul of the Spurs and as much as possible, you need him on the court. Meanwhile, Harper has been a revelation in the Finals, and in Game 5, he led the team with 25 points. However, despite their season on the line, Johnson did not allow his best players to leave it all on the court.
With the Spurs up 39-28, with 3:13 left in the second quarter, Johnson pulled Harper out of the game in favor of Stephon Castle. Then, less than a minute later, he also sat Victor Wembanyama with the Knicks, cutting the lead to 32-38. So instead of adding more to a 10-point lead, San Antonio found themselves up just 42-37 at the half, and that was after Devin Vassell hit a jumper at the second quarter buzzer.
Advertisement
“You have to allow the guys who are having it and anyone else on those nights; you have to take a backseat. Because you know you’ve done things through the 82 games and throughout the regular season and playoffs to help your team get here. But sometimes you have to take a backseat to someone who has an advantage in the series. Dylan Harper has an advantage. Wembanyama has an advantage. So, ending the quarters has been brutal at times for the San Antonio Spurs,” Smith added.
Harper led the Spurs in scoring in Game 5
Without naming names, Smith was likely referring to De’Aaron Fox, whose 37 minutes in Game 5 were third on the team behind Devin Vassell’s 39 and Wemby’s 38. Meanwhile, Harper played only 31 minutes but still finished as the team’s leading scorer with 25, while Fox only had seven points on 3-15 shooting.
Advertisement
Fox also played more minutes than Julian Champagnie, who started the game hot and had 14 points on 5-9 shooting, including 4-8 from 3-point distance. In the final minutes of the game, Mitch chose to go with Victor, Dylan, Stephon, De’Aaron, and Devin, when they could have needed Julian’s shooting down the stretch, especially since “Swipa” went scoreless on 0-4 shooting in the 4th quarter.
On Saturday night, the Spurs were still up by six points with over six minutes left, but, as Kenny observed, they did not close out the quarter well and were outscored by 10 points the rest of the way. Looking back, San Antonio led for 72 percent of the series, but lost 4-1. If only they played better in those stretches, the outcome could have been different. For this young team, however, it’s an important lesson they’ll learn for next season.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jun 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.