The San Antonio Spurs are officially on the brink of falling to the New York Knicks in the 2026 NBA Finals.
After losing grip on a 29-point lead in Game 5 that was eventually capped off by a game-winning tip-in from OG Anunoby, the Spurs now see themselves in the infamous 3-1 series hole—and history has not been in favor of the underdog.
Thirty-seven teams that had gone up 3-1 in the championship round later went on to raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the following days. However, the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers proved all the statistics wrong, as they still remain the only team, ten years later, to have successfully completed the comeback.
With his back against the wall, franchise star Victor Wembanyama believes the Texas-based squad still has what it takes to etch their names in the history books and complete the grueling comeback.
“Everybody knows we’re gonna do it… We need to take it one game at a time. It’d be a mistake to waste our energy on multiple games, just one game at a time,” Wembanyama said during the Game 5 press conference.
Wembanyama Brushes Off Historic Game 4 Meltdown
With two days of recovery following their atrocious Game 4 loss, Wembanyama expressed the team’s need to quickly move on and shift their focus to preparing for their win-or-go-home match.
“There were a thousand ways we could have not lost that game, but it felt like there was a time to process that and to really dwell on it, but not anymore,” the French big man said.
Despite the loss, the 7-foot-4 alien continues to usher the Spurs’ offense in his first-ever Finals appearance, averaging 27.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists across four games so far.
Mitch Johnson Emphasizes All Four Games as ‘Winnable’
Now a loss away from bowing to the eventual champions, lead tactician Mitch Johnson expressed that there is no more avoiding what has happened in the past four games, commenting that every single one of them had been winnable.
“There’s no avoiding what’s happened… All four games have been winnable. There’s nobody that’s gonna be harder than ourselves and more accountable than the people in that locker room and to each other,” Johnson said.
Despite a questionable decision from San Antonio guard De’Aaron Fox to attempt a layup in the dying seconds of Game 4, Johnson remains confident in the veteran to continue making winning plays in the endgame.
“People have their opinions, I don’t care. I care what the people that matter in our organization know how I feel. De’Aaron Fox will have the basketball in his hands at the end of the game tomorrow, and I have nothing but the utmost confidence that he’s gonna deliver like he’s done countless times for us,” Johnson added.
The Spurs will play their must-win Game 5 on home floor on Sunday, June 14.
