The San Antonio Spurs lost the second match of the NBA finals to the New York Knicks on Saturday, with French star Victor Wembanyama missing a potential game-winner just before the final whistle. The defeat leaves Spurs in need of an unprecedented comeback when the best-of-seven series shifts to New York for games three and four.
Jalen Brunson drilled the go-ahead free throw as the New York Knicks held off a furious San Antonio rally to beat the Spurs 105-104 on Friday and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama had a crucial late turnover and missed a potential game-winner with two seconds remaining to leave the Spurs in need of an unprecedented comeback when the best-of-seven series shifts to New York for games three and four.
No team has lifted the trophy after dropping the first two games of the Finals at home.
Michael Jordan's 1993 Chicago Bulls and the 1995 Houston Rockets are the only other teams to win the first two games of the championship series on the road, and both went on to win titles.
The Knicks won their 13th straight game of the playoffs – the second-longest streak in postseason history – and will have a chance to close out their first title since 1973 in front of home fans at Madison Square Garden. US President Donald Trump is scheduled to be in attendance on Monday.
They had to withstand a scintillating fourth-quarter surge from the Spurs, who erased a 14-point deficit with a 14-0 scoring run.
Wembanyama shook off a slow start to score 22 of his 29 points in the second half, his three-point play with 57.3 seconds remaining giving the Spurs their first lead since the second quarter at 104-102.
It was tied at 104-104 with 9.5 seconds left when Wembanyama grabbed the rebound of a Brunson miss but turned it over with a bad pass into the back of teammate Stephon Castle.
Brunson scooped up the ball and was fouled then made the first of two free throws to put the Knicks back in front.
San Antonio had one last chance, coming out of a time out with 7.5 seconds left. They got the ball to their superstar but his jump shot clanged off the rim.
"I threw that one away," 22-year-old Wembanyama said. "I messed up. We didn't play great as a team. We needed to win that game."
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Karl-Anthony Towns, who led the Knicks with 21 points and 13 rebounds admitted he was praying when Wembanyama put the Spurs' final attempt.
"A great player got a great shot, and it just didn't go in," Towns said.
'What a ballgame'
For the second straight game Towns delivered a stellar defensive performance that pushed Wembanyama out of his comfort zone.
"He's a once in a generation player," Towns said. "You got to make it difficult on him. So, just utilising my experience, utilising my size, my skill, and just trying to make it difficult for him.
Brunson and Mikal Bridges scored 20 points each, OG Anunoby added 17 and Landry Shamet scored 13 off the bench for the Knicks.
Wembanyama added nine rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals, and De'Aaron Fox scored 20 points for the Spurs.
Desperate not to head back to New York in a 2-0 hole, the Spurs attacked the paint early.
Wembanyama thrilled Spurs fans at the Frost Bank Center – where Knicks supporters were a vocal presence – with his first basket of the night, a left-handed dunk that gave the Spurs a 15-10 lead.
Fox's alley oop layup off a feed from Devin Vassell pushed the lead to 10 with less than two minutes to go in the first.
The Spurs pushed their lead to 12 before the Knicks responded in a tense second quarter, taking the lead for the first time, 49-48, on Landry Shamet's layup with 3:39 left in the first half.
San Antonio regained the lead, but Towns's three-pointer over Wembanyama gave the Knicks a 56-52 halftime advantage that they pushed to as many as 12 before taking an 84-75 lead into the fourth quarter.
"What a ballgame," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "It's a fantastic ballgame. They made a run. We made a run. They made a run. We made a run.
"We could have folded a few times, but our guys just kept fighting ... no matter what run they went on, no matter what time of the game, our guys just kept uplifting one another."
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
