Wembanyama Mistake Carried Knicks to 2-0: 105-104

The perhaps most dramatic match of this NBA Finals series was played in San Antonio on Friday night. Despite playing in the Spurs' home, the Knicks won 105-104 and raised the series score to 2-0. For New York, this victory also means the 13th consecutive playoff win; in history, only the 2017 Warriors (15) and 1999 Spurs (12) could catch this streak. The Knicks are only two matches away from their first championship since 1973.

The match started completely differently. The Spurs closed the first quarter 34-25 ahead and gave the Frost Bank Center a 9-point advantage. However, the Knicks answered in the second quarter 31-18 and went to the break 56-52 ahead. New York also kept the control of the game in the third quarter — they entered the last quarter with an 84-75 lead. When trailing 97-88 in the last quarter, Wembanyama started a performance like waking up at midnight; the 21-year-old Frenchman with the points he caught one after another in the 4th period, with his teammate Dylan Harper's breakaway and-1 contributions, took the score to 97-97. From 5:26 to 2:37 in the match, the Spurs caught a 13-0 run.

The final moments were terrifying for both teams. The Spurs caught the 104-102 lead with Wembanyama's old-school and-1; however, Brunson tied the score 104-104 with a 13-foot fade-away with 39 seconds left. The Spurs stole the ball from the Knicks in the last possession; Wembanyama took a critical rebound with 12 seconds left and chose Castle for the outlet pass. But Castle did not see the ball — the ball hit his back, Brunson grabbed the ball and won a foul. Brunson, who hit one of two free throws, put the Knicks ahead 105-104. The Spurs planned a 2-for-1 strategy in the last 7.5 seconds; Wembanyama tried a mid-range jumper, could not find the rim. The match ended.

A top-level balance came on the statistics side. Wembanyama was the top scorer of the night with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists; he produced 21 points in the second half. On the Spurs side, De'Aaron Fox added 20 points and 5 assists. The Knicks' leader Karl-Anthony Towns made a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds; Brunson again took on the closer role. Although the Spurs were ahead in shooting accuracy 47% (Knicks 42%), the Knicks created a wider offensive volume with 89 shot attempts (Spurs 78) and 44-42 rebound superiority. The statistic that determined the Spurs' fate was the turnover: Wembanyama's last-second pass mistake caused the Spurs to face the cost of turnovers again on the night — the Frenchman had also made 6 turnovers in Game 1.

The series now moves to New York. Madison Square Garden will host Game 3 on Monday night June 8 (Tuesday morning June 9 local Turkey time); Game 4 will also be played at the same venue. As the NBA Finals format is 2-2-1-1-1, the Spurs can only return to Frost Bank Center from Game 5 onwards. The only team in history to come back from 2-0 down to win 4-3 was the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers (against Golden State). For San Antonio the situation is still salvageable but the last-second drama Wembanyama experienced on Friday night appears to have seriously shaken the team's confidence.

Image: si.com