Wemby: ‘We absolutely dominated for most of the series’

The San Antonio Spurs season came to an end after losing to the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night in San Antonio.

As they’ve done in the four other games of this series, the Spurs held a double-digit lead, and for the fourth time in the series, the Knicks overcame the deficit to win. 

According to ESPN, the Spurs led for 178 minutes of the NBA Finals, while the Knicks led for only 57 minutes.

After losing in Game 5 on Saturday, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama said the team dominated a good portion of the NBA Finals but made mistakes when it mattered the most.

“I learned one of many things: the margin of error is very, very thin,” he said. “Our domination stints are absolute. We absolutely dominated for most of the series. But our errors, our mistakes, are punished so hard that we can’t have ups and downs like this. So much, you know. The ups are okay. The downs is the reason we lost.”

In this series, the Knicks had the edge in experience, and it showed. The average age of the Spurs’ starting lineup was 24. Conversely, the average age of the Knicks’ starting lineup was 29.5. Plus, Jalen Brunson, Karl Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby have a decent amount of playoff experience, and Mikal Bridges played in the NBA Finals in 2021, so again, experience was on the side of the Knicks.

The Spurs, who won 62 regular-season games after missing the playoffs last season, have all the makings of a team that can get back to the NBA Finals. Wembanyama, who won Defensive Player of the Year, is a special talent. Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle are two ascending players. Despite some of his struggles, De’Aaron Fox is a very good point guard, and Devin Vassell is solid. Plus, their head coach, Mitch Johnson, despite some questionable decisions in the Finals, has shown himself to be a decent coach. Furthermore, they came back from a 3-2 deficit against the Thunder, including winning a Game 7 on the road, which is impressive.

Yes, the Spurs will be kicking themselves all summer long for losing this series, but they can walk away knowing that better days could be ahead for them.