Wembanyama late – A Spurs comeback in Game 2 of the NBA Finals ended with a late-game miscommunication and a missed game-winning shot from Victor Wembanyama, leaving San Antonio down 0-2 to the Knicks.
Victor Wembanyama looked ready to tilt the NBA Finals back toward San Antonio—until the last few moments turned into something he, and the Spurs, will have to live with.
In Game 2 against the New York Knicks, the Spurs and Knicks traded double-digit leads in a tightly contested showdown. San Antonio surged in the fourth quarter to tie the game and take the lead. Then the finish unraveled: a foul on a 3-pointer hurt the Spurs. and with 12 seconds remaining. Wembanyama tried to pass to teammate Stephon Castle.
It wasn’t just a turnover—it was a misread at full speed. Wembanyama threw the ball at Castle’s back as he was heading up the court. The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson grabbed the ball, and Wembanyama fouled Brunson. When Brunson missed one of his shots, it gave San Antonio one last opening.
The final play drawn up didn’t go smoothly. The ball ended up back in Wembanyama’s hands with a chance to win. He fired off a heroic game-winning attempt—then watched it miss as the buzzer sounded.
The Spurs are now in a 0-2 deficit, and the 22-year-old phenom is facing sharp criticism for the sequence. On social media, fans on X focused on what they saw as the crucial breakdown: his errant pass to Castle, and what some called an overall lack of aggressiveness throughout the game.
“What a stupid turnover by Wemby to cost them the game,” one commenter wrote.
Another said: “Wemby folded twice at the end of the game.”
Others attacked the final shot selection and the play calling around it. “Wemby with two chances to win it and he’s settling for fadeaways over Robinson smh,” a fan posted. “Why settle for a jumper?! Terrible play call. Drive with Harper or Castle then put up a lob for Wemby,” another X user wrote.
Some criticisms went beyond that single sequence, pointing to Wembanyama’s pressure moments. “Yea Wemby has the Tatum thing going on where his brain turns into pots and pans smashing together during crunchtime. It’ll be hard for him to get into the GOAT convo,” one commenter suggested.
There were also comments from Spurs supporters and NBA watchers focusing on whether Wembanyama has the “clutch gene,” with messages like “Wemby doesn’t have the clutch gene,” and “Wow Wemby and Castle made a huge mistake that most likely will cost them the NBA title. You live and you learn.”
The Spurs’ late-game stumble will now be remembered as the kind of moment that defines a Finals swing. The miscommunication with Castle. paired with Wembanyama’s two chances in the final moments that ended in failure. laid bare how brutal high-stakes pressure can be for even the most gifted young players.
Game 3 is expected to feel like a must-win for San Antonio. The Spurs will go back on the road for a hostile Madison Square Garden, where Knicks fans will outnumber Spurs fans in the building. That game is set for Monday night, tipping at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN.
Victor Wembanyama San Antonio Spurs New York Knicks NBA Finals Game 2 Jalen Brunson Stephon Castle Madison Square Garden ABC ESPN