For the second time in three nights, the San Antonio Spurs had the ball, the crowd and a chance to even the NBA Finals. For the second time, they let it slip. The New York Knicks held off a furious late rally to win Game 2 by a single point, 105-104, and head back to Madison Square Garden with a 2-0 series lead over a young San Antonio side that has now lost a Finals game it firmly believed was won.
The Knicks led by 14 in the fourth quarter before the Spurs answered with a 14-0 run to tie the game at 104. With the score level and the season tightening, Victor Wembanyama turned the ball over and then fouled. Jalen Brunson made one of two free throws for the winning margin, and a final Wembanyama look — off a De'Aaron Fox pass on a pick-and-roll the Spurs ran exactly as drawn up — would not fall.
Wembanyama did not hide from it. "I'm still very blurry, and that's the whole problem," he said afterward. "I need to have more poise, more control over the game." Asked about the closing sequence, he was blunter still. "I threw that one away. I messed up. We didn't play great as a team. We needed to win that game. This game was ours. But at this point, it's done." He added: "Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely."
The bigger problem for San Antonio may be the matchup at the other end. Karl-Anthony Towns followed a strong Game 1 with 21 points and 13 rebounds, getting whatever he wanted against a defense built around the rangy Wembanyama. It was a notable line for Towns, who had scored under 20 in seven straight games before the Finals.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson pushed back gently on the idea that Towns has been unstoppable. "He's made some shots and he's a really good player. I don't think he's gotten everything he's wanted," Johnson said. "We still got to make it tough on him. We've had some coverage breakdowns." He was harder on his own team's failure to feed Wembanyama, who attempted just four shots in the first half. "Four shots in a half at this stage is not acceptable," Johnson said, adding that the responsibility was shared between his scheme and his star.
Johnson kept his framing simple looking ahead. "We don't feel like we played well or up to our standard in the last two games. New York's played very well, and they're a part of that," he said. "If we play our brand of basketball up to our standard, we'll be just fine."
On the other bench, the mood was hungry rather than satisfied. Mikal Bridges, who caught fire for a long offensive stretch, credited Towns without hesitation. "He's been great. When winning time happens in these big games, he shows us who he's going to be," Bridges said. "He's going to be a dog. He's going to play hard on both ends." Asked how the Knicks avoid easing off up 2-0, Bridges had one word: "Desperate. That's the only thing we've got to worry about. Leave everything on that court."
The TNT crew was already measuring the run against history. New York has now won 13 straight playoff games, the second-longest postseason streak ever behind Golden State's 15 in 2017. "If they win these next two games, this is one of the greatest runs in playoff history," Charles Barkley said, comparing the balanced, defense-first Knicks to the 2004 Detroit Pistons. Barkley went further on the Towns-Wembanyama duel: "The MVP of the Finals is going to be Karl-Anthony Towns. He has played two of the best games I've ever seen a big man play. That man earned his flowers."
Shaquille O'Neal framed it as a simple law of stardom — a great player is supposed to win his matchup, and through two games Towns has clearly outplayed Wembanyama. Kenny Smith zeroed in on the endgame, arguing San Antonio botched its clock management on the final possession: with the ball and a chance to win, Wembanyama should have shot earlier to leave time for an offensive rebound and a second chance rather than gambling everything on one look.
For all the noise around Brunson's cold shooting night, the Knicks won on balance and defense, holding the Spurs to 104 after a 95-point Game 1. San Antonio, which clawed to the Finals through a Game 7 against Oklahoma City, now faces the league's loudest building down 0-2. Game 3 is Monday at the Garden.
