On the heels of the worst collapse in NBA Finals history, the Spurs were left looking for answers during their post-game media session following Wednesday’s Game 4 loss, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. San Antonio held a 29-point lead in the third quarter, but they were outscored by 30 points the rest of the way as they shot just 8-of-39 from the floor in the second half.
The Spurs looked dominant in the first quarter, setting a Finals record by knocking down 14 three-pointers and building a 76-49 lead going into halftime. After registering 18 assists and just two turnovers in the first two quarters, San Antonio had six assists and committed nine turnovers in the third and fourth quarters.
“We went away from everything we were doing,” rookie guard Dylan Harper said. “In the first half, a lot of tough shots went in. Really, that was because we were playing the right way. We got away from that in the second half because of the lead. We just can’t take our foot off the gas. It’s one thing for me to sit up here and say it. It’s another for us to go out there and do it.”
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama acknowledged it was a “painful” defeat, while forward Keldon Johnson called it a “tough pill to swallow” and head coach Mitch Johnson referred to it as “disappointing to say the least.” Now facing a 3-1 deficit, Wembanyama and his teammates insisted they aren’t going to roll over and let the Knicks win the series without a fight.
“What’s going through my mind right now?” Wembanyama said. “I think it’s going to go one of two ways: a bad one and a good one. The bad one would be giving up. The good one would be getting stronger through this, getting more together. I know this is what we’re going to do.
“… We’ve proven we can surpass these difficulties. Even though we haven’t been there before, I’m convinced we’re built that way and we’re going to use the better of this. It’s going to tighten us up.”
Here’s more on the Spurs:
- De’Aaron Fox, who has battled an ankle injury in recent weeks, made a costly error in the final seconds of Game 4, attempting to make a layup with the shot clock off and his team up by one. OG Anunoby blocked the shot, regaining possession for the Knicks and setting up his game-winning tip-in. Explaining why he attempted to score following a Spurs steal instead of dribbling more time off the clock and letting the Knicks foul him, Fox said, “I thought I’d be able to outrun (Anunoby),” per Sam Amick of The Athletic. “Try to get a layup, get up three and force them to need a three,” Fox told reporters. “OG made a good block.”
- The NBA’s decision not to retroactively assess Wembanyama with a flagrant foul 1 for a shove to the back of Jalen Brunson‘s head in Game 3 looms large after the Spurs big man received a flagrant 1 in Game 4 for an elbow on Karl-Anthony Towns, notes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. If a player accumulates four flagrant points in a postseason, he earns an automatic one-game suspension and Wembanyama is now at three points. He would’ve been unable to play in a do-or-die Game 5 if the Brunson incident had been ruled a flagrant and must avoid another flagrant foul going forward to avoid a suspension.
- Despite the fact that the Spurs held a significant lead for most of the second and third quarters, Wembanyama logged 44 minutes of action on Wednesday, his highest total of 2025/26 (regular season or playoffs) for a regulation game. Asked after the loss if he wore down as the game progressed, he replied, “Yeah, I guess I did,” according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). Johnson explained to reporters that he didn’t want to take San Antonio’s lead for granted. “With two days (off) after this, what was at stake, we wanted to win the game and try to put it away,” the Spurs’ coach said.
Fox’s ankle is not why he made that boneheaded play. There is no excuse. The Spurs as a team have to stop being overconfident and play good basketball for a full 48 minutes. Fox, Wemby, and coach Mitch Johnson have to make better decisions and lead the team in big moments.
Johnson has been out-coached all series. He’s not adjusting as the game goes on. He should have made sure the team stayed focus with a huge lead. The players started forcing tough shots and lost confidence when they didn’t go in. The Spurs also let the crowd back into the game.
I have nothing against the Knicks, but I’ve been rooting the Spurs. I believe the Spurs will be stronger for this loss going forward. They are very young. Mitch Johnson should be better for it, too. Spurs won a title 12 years ago. Knicks won in 1973. They are due.
spurs found a million different ways to lose this finals.
wemby is constantly passing to nobody… missing clutch FTs…
the entire team looks lazy and careless
1 less mistake in game 2 and 1 less mistake in game 4, and they’re up 3-1 instead of down 3-1. nobody has ever been handed a championship like the knicks
Spurs gave the game away, all they had to do was slow things down, knock it off with the quick threes, and the Knicks wouldn’t have gotten enough possessions to win the game.
Coach was awful, should’ve demanded they get in half-court and don’t take shots until under 8-10 seconds on the shot clock, simple.
Even with all the calls they get, including a bunch yesterday, still down 3-1. And Wemby should be sitting for game 5 on top of it all.
Happens to nearly every young team. They have to lose in order to win. Unfortunately for them and for Wemby it’s happening in the finals which magnifies everything. Wemby has clear holes in his game he and the spurs need to address this offseason.
Fox might have just made the worst play in nba history, when I saw him get the ball live I thought he was going to dribble it out
And then fox doesnt box out Anunoby and let’s him have an easy opening for a chance at a tip in
If the spurs lose this series then fox is ABSOLUTELY getting traded, probably to Milwaukee as a salary matcher for Giannis