NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 10: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the game against the New York Knicks during Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 10, 2026 at Madison in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images The Spurs melted down in the second half. What was the play that let you know the loss was coming? Marilyn Dubinski: There were several plays within the downward spiral that had me losing hope, from Wemby missing three threes in one possession and two clutch free throws, but the moment for me was when Fox got the loose ball with them up one with very little time left, and he had the choice to race to the bucket and get the lead up to three or dribble around and eat some clock. Hindsight is always 20-20, and now it seems obvious he should have dribbled and gotten free throws, but I can’t entirely blame him for going for two guaranteed points to get the lead to three over two non-guaranteed ones. The problem is, of course, he missed, with seemingly a slight hesitation while deciding what to do allowing the defense to recover and the Knicks the chance to take the game-winner.  (I’ll also give him the benefit of the doubt and say he gets there and makes the shot without a bum ankle.) Mark Barrington: I think it was when Wembanyama missed both free throws. At that point I knew he was spent and couldn’t save the team, and nobody else was going to step up. Of course, I was yelling at my TV when Fox took an unnecessary shot with a few seconds left, as no one wearing Silver and Black had anything resembling court awareness. That play, like Wemby’s pass off of Castle’s back in Game 2, was the final nail in the coffin, but they had been building that coffin for the entire second half. Devon Birdsong: I *knew* it was over when Fox made one of the biggest mistakes in Spurs history, but my first real suspicion was the out-of-bounds call on Castle (which the NBA has now admitted was wrong). My hope momentarily lifted when Fox had an open mid-range jumper, but when he missed it (even though Castle redeemed himself on the rebound), my heart sank into my bowels. After Game 3, I wrote that most of this series has felt like a horror film, and I’m not sure if that was predictive or just bad timing, but I had no idea that it could get worse. Watching the 2nd half of that game was like watching characters do clearly stupid things in one of those movies (or the ‘Good Choices’ Geico commercial), and I could almost hear the faintest echo of Fred Herman Jones saying “Let’s split up gang!” in the distance.  Jeje Gomez: I’d love to be less predictable here, but it was Fox’s mistake. Even though the collapse started much earlier, the Spurs were still in the driver’s seat for most of the last few minutes and it seemed like the Josh Hart miss was going to be the Knicks’ version of the Wemby to Castle botched pass, an error that would determine the winner. I was optimistic until the end, and when Fox tapped the rebound to himself, I could taste the win. Then, the second he took the shot, and it got blocked, I thought a New York win was almost inevitable. True or false: The Spurs’ lack of experience is the biggest reason for their struggles in the Finals.  Dubinski: It’s hard to say.  It seemingly wasn’t a problem against the defending champions last round, in which they didn’t even have homecourt advantage, so why is it a problem now? There is zero doubt the Finals are an exponentially bigger stage than the conference finals, and going against a historical and charged-up franchise like the Knicks adds yet another level, so maybe this is just too much for a young team with little to no playoff experience before this year.  Closing tight games has been an issue almost all season, and the Knicks are the polar opposite and the last team you want to falter against in the clutch against.  I guess I’ll go with true since they’re playing a team of hardened, grizzled veterans with more experience to learn and build off of. (Although I think the Spurs win this series against any other Eastern Conference opponent.)  Barrington: True. De’Aaron Fox is supposed to be the playoff closer for the Spurs, but before this year, he had been in only 7 playoff games, and he had the most playoff experience of any starter. You could say that the 22 playoff games they’ve played this season would be a lot of playoff experience, but I don’t think players can absorb that quickly on the fly with only one or two days off between games. They’ll handle these kinds of situations better next season, if they make it this far, but nothing is guaranteed. They’ve had a lot of things go right for them in this year’s playoff run to get to the finals, but their luck ran out Wednesday night in the Garden. You have to give the Knicks credit for continuing to fight even when down by a ton of points, but you also have to be a little mad at the Spurs for losing their focus and falling apart under pressure. It’s a hard lesson, and thinking it would never happen to this team on a storied run from a 34-win season to the NBA Finals was a vain hope.  Birdsong: Absolutely true. Lost in the hubbub about Fox is the very real failure as a team to recognize a need for a strategy change midway through the 3rd quarter. The Spurs should have been grinding out possessions instead of still trying to jump-shoot the Knicks out of the building. The inability to recognize that they no longer had the hot hand, as well as that they weren’t effectively draining the clock + failing to create, take, and make easier shots, is largely what let the Knicks back in. Some of that was pure hubris (I’ve written before about how these Spurs are sometimes not satisfied with just carrying a lead and prefer to embarrass the opposition), and some of it was execution. But both are symptoms of the same thing, inexperience. A Twitter/X account last night tweeted out that if Chris Paul had still been on the team (even hardly playing) he would never have let them keep that up for the entire 2nd half, and I think that’s right. Last night wasn’t just the players’ inexperience showing, but Mitch’s too.  Gomez: True-ish. There’s no denying that some of the mistakes the Spurs have made are probably a reflection of not only their lack of experience in the biggest stages, but a lack of experience playing with one another. The Fox gaffe can be explained by the former, and the Wemby-to-Castle pass by the latter. Without those two massive blunders, the series could easily be 3-1 the other way. But there are other, arguably deeper problems. San Antonio doesn’t have a bench or reliable size at the forward spots. They don’t have an established half-court offense, which technically could be chalked up to Mitch Johnson’s lack of experience, but it seems more to do with the coach’s philosophy of giving his players freedom. Since the Spurs have so much talent, they have been able to hide those flaws at times and overcome them at others, but against a team that matches up so well against them, it’s been harder to do. Youth is to blame for some of the issues, but focusing solely on it can distract from other weaknesses in the roster and the offense that are being exposed. How confident are you that the Spurs can get it to Game 7?   Dubinski: Not at all, but maybe I should give them more than a 10% chance.  One thing they have done well in these playoffs is bounce back, and they likely know just as well as we do that they could just as easily be up 3-1 (or even have already won 4-0) if they weren’t shooting themselves in the foot in the final minute of games. They have what it takes, but they have to stop beating themselves and execute for three straight games. The question is, can they do it, considering consistency has not been their forte in these playoffs? (I will say, my only goal for them right now is to just get to Game 6, and not just for the obvious “one game at a time” reason, but also because the only thing we have never had to endure as a franchise is watch another team celebrate a championship on our home court, and I don’t want that to change now.) Barrington: I’m not confident, but I’m hopeful. Game 5 is the key. This series isn’t over yet. If they play like goldfish and don’t internalize the failure of Game 4, they will be in good shape to take Game 6 in the Garden. If they do that, it’s a matchup for the ages, as the league can see one of the most exciting back-and-forth series in history.  The reason why I think that won’t happen is that I remember the Spurs in the 2013 finals. After Ray Allen’s miracle shot stole Game 6, the Spurs were mentally and physically spent and didn’t put up that much of a fight in Game 7. I could see that happening again in Game 5 this year, but this team is younger and they could overcome the fatigue. The only good thing about remembering the 2013 Finals is that that wasn’t the end of the story. There was a redemption arc, and who knows, that could happen again.  This team is going to be good for a long time, and the mental hardening from the lessons of this season should make them tougher to take down in the future. That, and some roster improvements, as the bench was really exposed by the Knicks in this year’s finals, and the lack of playable bigs led to an overdependence on Wembanyama, who can’t play over 40 minutes in every game. Birdsong: I think it’s all about Game 6. Supposing the Spurs win Game 5 (and I expect they will, if not purely out of sheer anger with themselves), they have a very tall order going back to the Garden down 2-3. That being said, they’ve already pulled that off down 0-2. It’ll be a different kind of pressure, though. The Knicks will do everything they can to not go back to San Antonio for Game 7, but if the Spurs pull it off, I can still see them winning it all. Right now, they need to focus on a reset in familiar surroundings and take every positive thing they can out of an extremely embarrassing and public lesson. They’ve risen to the occasion before, so I think they can do it again. In fact, in spite of the loss, I’m more confident in their ability to beat the Knicks; it’s just going to come down to execution. The margin separating these two teams is razor-thin, and that bodes well for series extension. I give them 50/50 to get to Game 7, but if they do, I’m putting my money on them. At that point, they’ll know they can overcome anything, and that’s money in the bank(shot).  Gomez: Can they bounce back and win Game 5? I’m not confident about it. The loss was too painful, and while the Spurs have been surprisingly resilient in the face of adversity, at some point, they will break. If we use the stonecutter’s credo to describe the situation, they might be the rock, and the OG Anunoby game-winner, the final blow. If they somehow manage to once again respond well to a tough loss, I think anything is possible. I expect the Knicks to be confident in Game 5, but if they lose, they might get anxious about trying to finish it all at home since they don’t exactly have much championship experience themselves. Is it likely we’ll get a Game 7? Not really, but I won’t call the series over until someone actually wins four. ...read more read less