Spurs confident they can dig out of 2-0 hole in NBA Finals - ESPN

NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs expressed confidence Sunday in the face of their most significant challenge to date, down 2-0 to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals with Game 3 set for Monday at Madison Square Garden.

Just five teams in league history have overcome a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals. The last team to beat those long odds was the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021. The Spurs believe they can be No. 6, and it looked that way Sunday during a loose and lively practice session at MSG.

«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 when asked how he deals with the pressure of facing two road games down 2-0. «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.»

San Antonio lost Game 2 on Friday at Frost Bank Center 105-104 when Jalen Brunson connected on a go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left after a turnover by Wembanyama led to a foul on the Knicks guard. Even after that, the Spurs felt they had an opportunity to secure the victory. But Wembanyama fired the potential game-winning jumper long, becoming the first player in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to log a turnover, foul and missed shot in the last 10 seconds of a Finals contest.

The Spurs led by one point with 2:16 left to play in Game 1, before the Knicks snatched a potential win from their grasp with an 11-0 run to close out a 105-95 victory.

«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