Victor Wembanyama admits Spurs, on brink of tying NBA Finals, 'weren’t the most hungry' to close out game
Knicks Complete Historic Comeback, Topple Spurs in NBA Finals Game 4
Madison Square Garden erupted Thursday night as the New York Knicks engineered the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, erasing a 29-point deficit to defeat the San Antonio Spurs and force a pivotal Game 5 in the series.
The contest began with the Spurs dictating tempo. San Antonio built an early lead that ballooned to 29 points, leaving the Knicks searching for answers. Victor Wembanyama was at the center of the action, drawing boos during introductions and enduring expletive-laced chants from the home crowd. When a defensive foul on Wembanyama was reversed to an offensive foul he drew, the jeers only intensified. Midway through the game, Mitchell Robinson was called for a flagrant foul after contact with Wembanyama. Caught on camera, Wembanyama shouted, “I’m in your head!” a line that quickly went viral and underscored the psychological edge the rookie sensation held over New York.
At the break, the Wu-Tang Clan took the stage for a halftime show, but the momentum shift began immediately after. The Knicks emerged from the locker room with renewed urgency, outscoring the Spurs by 28 points in the final two quarters. New York’s defense tightened, forcing nine turnovers in the final 24 minutes while holding San Antonio to just 30 second-half points. A 20-point lead the Spurs held in the fourth quarter vanished in a matter of minutes as the Knicks methodically chipped away, eventually completing the franchise’s most dramatic Finals rally.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson reflected on the collapse, stating, “To put as much good work into that first half as we did and get the lead that we had and not finish the job, it’s disappointing to say the least. We got away from playing the brand of basketball that got us the lead. And then you saw at times, the aggressiveness and conviction that we played with early on dissipated and they made some shots. We needed a couple of more tough-minded plays to finish the job.”
For Wembanyama, the loss was personal. “It was painful, of course. It feels like we worked too hard and give up our leads. It’s as simple as that. It just hurts,” he admitted. The French standout, who finished as the night’s most talked-about figure, also offered perspective on the road ahead. “It’s going to go one of two ways: a bad one and a good one. The bad one will be giving up. The good one will be getting stronger through this, getting more together and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “Holding each other accountable, communicating, not pointing fingers. After that, we either got it or we don’t. We’ve proven that we can surpass these difficulties but even though we haven’t been there before, I’m convinced we are built this way. We’re going to get better from this and it’s going to tighten us up.”
The victory pulls the Knicks within one win of their first NBA championship since 1973. New York built a 2-0 series lead by winning the first two games on the road before the Spurs’ dramatic home-turnaround. With the series now knotted 2-2, Game 5 at Madison Square Garden promises must-see basketball as the Knicks look to close out the title and San Antonio fights to keep its season alive.
Both sides now turn to adjustments. The Knicks will aim to sustain the defensive intensity and crowd-fueled energy that fueled their historic run, while the Spurs must rediscover the conviction and disciplined execution that built their early lead. As Wembanyama noted, the path forward depends on resilience—on whether the team lets the setback define them or uses it as fuel for a longer run.
