Victor Wembanyama’s Turnover Costs Spurs in Knicks Spurs Game 3, 105-104

The Knicks spurs game 3 turned on one late sequence, and New York left Game 2 with a 105-104 win and a 2-0 NBA Finals lead. Victor Wembanyama’s outlet pass sailed away, and the Spurs never got the final stop they needed.

Wembanyama and Brunson

Wembanyama grabbed a rebound and tried to push the ball up the floor for the Spurs’ final shot in the final minute. He threw an outlet pass to Stephon Castle, but Castle was looking the other way and the ball bounced off his back before ending up with Jalen Brunson.

After the game, Wembanyama did not soften the mistake. “I threw that one away. I messed up,” he said. He added, “We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game. This game was ours.”

Brunson’s free throws

The Spurs still had a path back after Brunson missed his second free throw, giving them another chance. On the next possession, De’Aaron Fox and Wembanyama ran a pick-and-roll, but Wembanyama missed a clean shot over Mitchell Robinson and hit the back rim.

The sequence fit the late-game swing New York forced. The Spurs had come back to take the lead in the final minute, then lost the ball and the final possession, leaving the Knicks with a one-point win and a 2-0 series edge.

Wembanyama’s late stretch

The turnover was only part of the closing stretch. Wembanyama later left his feet when Brunson used a pump fake, then sounded frustrated afterward: “That’s the most frustrating thing,” he said, followed by, “To throw it away after putting in all this work.”

He also said, “I’m still very blurry. That’s the whole problem,” and, “I need to have more poise, more control over the game.” At 7-foot-4, he remains the focal point of San Antonio’s late-game possessions, and Friday’s finish left the Spurs trying to claw out of a 2-0 hole after a loss decided by one possession.