Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are heading to Madison Square Garden down two games to none in the NBA Finals, but don’t expect panic to set in.
Despite dropping both games at home, the Spurs remain confident they can turn the series around against the New York Knicks.
History isn’t exactly on their side, only five teams have ever come back to win from a 0-2 deficit in the NBA Finals, but San Antonio believes it can become the sixth.
Leading that belief is Victor Wembanyama.
“I think the key is acceptance a lot of times, taking a step back, realizing all the journey that’s behind this and what’s ahead of this,” Wembanyama said during the team’s practice session in New York. “Just being OK with who I am, where I am, what I’m doing. This is everything that I wished for. There’s really no reason to overthink it. This is what I’m built for.”
The frustration for San Antonio is that both losses were there for the taking.
The Spurs held a late lead in Game 1 before New York closed the game on an 11-0 run. In Game 2, San Antonio lost by a single point after Jalen Brunson knocked down a go-ahead free throw in the final seconds.
Wembanyama knows those missed opportunities can’t happen again.
“We need to capitalize, actually use all the efforts we [had],” Wembanyama said. “It felt like we did a lot of things wrong, but we were also relentless and kept pushing, but kind of wasted that effort. I know it’s not wasted because our lessons are learned. I know we’re not going to make the mistakes of the past again. But in a moment like this, we need to make these things matter.”
Interim coach Mitch Johnson echoed that sentiment.
“If there’s a thematic thing, the biggest thing is we’ve put in some good, hard work at times, and have not taken advantage of that hard work,” Johnson said. “That’s been partially some undisciplined things for us. Also, New York has stepped up and made some plays at the end of the clock and finished out possessions.”
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