Mitch Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs entered Game 2 counting on Victor Wembanyama to help deliver a much-needed win, but fell agonizingly short at the Frost Bank Center.<\/p>\n
Before the NBA Finals, Wembanyama had downplayed the Spurs\u2019 lack of experience, but that inexperience was evident at several key moments during their heartbreaking 105-104 defeat to the New York Knicks<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Mitch Johnson Explains Victor Wembanyama\u2019s Quiet First Half<\/p>\n Wembanyama struggled through a slow start in Game 2, recording 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 turnovers in the first half. The second half saw the Frenchman come to life as the Spurs surged with a 14-0 run late in the fourth quarter, only to lose by a point.<\/p>\n Much of the postgame discussion centered on Wembanyama\u2019s costly turnover as well as the lack of offensive involvement in earlier periods of the game.<\/p>\n After the game, Johnson addressed the challenges Wembanyama faced in getting involved offensively.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had that discussion before, and I understand the discourse around it,\u201d Johnson said.<\/a> \u201cI think it\u2019s a little bit of all but (we) have to make sure that there\u2019s environments that the ball finds him. I think he\u2019s got to make sure that he can\u2019t rely on that to get shots as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cThere were times I think when he was open on rolls around the paint and his teammates got to give him the ball, so I think it\u2019s a combination of all that, but you have four shots and a half on this stage is not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n With the score tied at 104-104 and less than 15 seconds left, Wembanyama grabbed a rebound and attempted an outlet pass to Stephon Castle<\/a>, who wasn\u2019t looking at the ball.<\/p>\n Jalen Brunson<\/a> recovered possession, drew a foul, and knocked down one of two free throws, giving New York a 105-104 lead.<\/p>\n Wembanyama still had an opportunity to win the game moments later when he got a clean look from 20 feet, but his jumper with 2 seconds left bounced off the back rim.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n He ultimately finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 11-for-21 from the field.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: \u2018Most Disrespectful Thing I Have Ever Seen\u2019 \u2014 Controversy Erupts As Victor Wembanyama Prays During Anthem After President Donald Trump Weighs In<\/a><\/p>\n Wembanyama later described the turnover as \u201cthe most frustrating thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Castle also reflected on the play<\/a> after the defeat and said, \u201cI was looking at him when he first got the rebound, and I just started to take off, trying to give him some space to dribble up the court. I didn\u2019t see him throw it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The mistake prompted San Antonio Express-News writer Tom Orsborn to draw comparisons to Rod Strickland\u2019s infamous turnover<\/a> during San Antonio<\/a>\u2019s Game 7 loss to Portland<\/a> in the 1990 Western Conference Semifinals.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Spurs now find themselves in a difficult situation after dropping both home games, as New York has seized control of the series and has all the momentum.<\/p>\n The loss also extended a surprising drought for the franchise, as theSpurs have not won an NBA Finals game<\/a> against a team not led by LeBron James<\/a> since Game 7 of the 2005 Finals against the Detroit Pistons<\/a>, despite making four Finals appearances during that span.<\/p>\n History continues to be against the Spurs heading into Game 3, as no team has ever recovered to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two games at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mitch Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs entered Game 2 counting on Victor Wembanyama to help deliver a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[1840,1753,4576,36783,3013,132928,355,361,18223,6999,2116,99,40552,60950,32090],"class_list":["post-687925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-lebron-james","tag-mitch-johnson","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-portland","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sports","tag-stephon-castle","tag-the-spurs","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}