NBA Finals: Why Victor Wembanyama looked gassed against the Knicks at the end of Game 1 loss

Kelly IkoThu, June 4, 2026 at 4:58 AM UTC

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SAN ANTONIO — With 60 seconds remaining and Game 1 of the NBA Finals hanging in the balance, the ball naturally rested in Victor Wembanyama's massive hands.

Matched up with Karl-Anthony Towns on the right wing, with his evening mileage creeping on 40 grueling minutes and offensive struggles dominating his debut, the logistics weren't in his favor. Still, he pressed on. He had to.

In Wembanyama's mind, he knew where he wanted to go, the desired angle to attack Towns. Previous possessions involving the alien and unicorn had shown the possibility of production. But at that moment, as he put the ball on the ground and began his charge, his body had other plans. Wembanyama lost control, the consummation of fatigue from a system that had channeled all of its efforts through his limbs against a smart, physical Knicks team. Josh Hart, who had bested the Frenchman on a number of occasions on Wednesday evening from an energy standpoint, pounced on the opportunity, spawning a fastbreak, a Jalen Brunson dagger and a knockout punch.

"I'm going to figure it out," Wembanyama said following the 105-95 loss. "Yeah, I mean, I was bad tonight. It's not more complicated than that. … I think we let that one go."

Given that the postseason — much less the NBA Finals — is more or less an expanded chess match, and how Towns' new, expanded offensive role as a hub had fundamentally changed New York's playoff path, attempting to throw a wrench in those plans seemed like an adequate first move for the Spurs.

Instead of keeping Wembanyama attached to Towns as he did for the bulk of their regular-season meetings, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson opted to use one of his lengthy wings — Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie or Keldon Johnson — on the Knicks center, freeing up Wembanyama. Such a move shouldn't have come as a surprise, either; Vassell, for instance, was the most commonly used defender on Thunder big Chet Holmgren during the Western Conference finals.

The thinking here is simple. Similar to the previous series, allowing Wembanyama to roam and rotate resulted in the Knicks struggling in the half-court and at the rim, finishing with below-average success rates for a team that prides itself on its rate of downhill drives. Having Towns (who likes to operate around the elbows) matched up with a smaller player, in theory, should generate more isolation play, either by Towns trying to create his own shot via post-ups or encouraging another teammate (likely Brunson) to attack.

Recent playoff data suggests that Towns' post-ups aren't efficient and don't generate high free-throw rates and the veteran big man finished with 18 points on 15 shots. Brunson, on the other hand, scored a game-high 30 points, but required 31 shots to get there. (More individual, slower play as opposed to the high-octane, Towns-centric attack, is the right approach.)

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"He's a tremendous player that's skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles, shoots contested shots without being sped up," Johnson said of Brunson. "He's a phenomenal player. We just got to keep making him work. Thirty points on 31 shots is something that you probably want to keep making him work for those points. Probably some of the other stuff that we can probably control more than him making or missing shots."

But as with any plan or strategy, there are holes and, against an elite Knicks team, those manifested themselves in Game 1. Moving Wembanyama away from Towns made controlling the glass a much more arduous task, with Towns snagging key offensive rebounds and either scoring on smaller players or regrouping to find a better look. New York scored 23 second-chance points, nine more than San Antonio despite grabbing five fewer overall rebounds.

More importantly, the Spurs' overall reliance on Wembanyama defensively, asking him to cover copious amounts of space possession after possession, ultimately appeared to drain the 22-year-old. On multiple occasions, San Antonio's offensive chances came to a grinding halt, with the ball sluggishly moving around and ending in Wembanyama's hands, forced to create something out of nothing.

New York did a good job of toggling different options to bump, push and dig on his touches, routinely throwing him off balance and ending in poor shots. He finished with 26 points, but shot just 6-for-21 from the field, missed seven of his nine 3s and turned the ball over six times. More time spent with his hands on his knees searching for energy and attempts to gather himself than made field goals. At the other end of the superstar spectrum, Brunson was fantastic in the final frame, scoring 13 points on an efficient 5-of-9 shooting, spearheading an emphatic 11-0 Knicks run to slam the door shut.

(San Antonio's outside woes, missing 32 of 43 3s, are another talking point which will surely be addressed in the coming days internally. New York won't suddenly let up on its aggressive approach and seem content, much like Oklahoma City was, with letting them fly from deep. But without Wembanyama's inside-outside balance, the Spurs become predictable and lethargic offensively.)

And Wembanyama's attempts to get loose, either by cutting or rolling, were met with a resistance longer than New York's subway system.

"Yeah, I have to go back and look at the film." Johnson said of Wemby's struggles. "Felt like he missed a few shots early. We got to get him moving in space and toward the rim, whether that's on rolls or running in transition. But we need the pressure on the rim and the force in the paint. They did a good job of obviously being physical and showing crowds. We need to do a better job of establishing that early on, for sure."

Of course, this is only the first installment of what could be a lengthy series. The Spurs, despite putting up one of the worst offensive performances of the playoffs, still had a lead with two minutes to go. Johnson refused to cite fatigue as an excuse for the team's poor showing as well, and Wembanyama vowed to be much better moving forward, almost laughing to himself at his level of play compared to his high standards. But a Spurs system that has dedicated so much time and reps to Wembanyama's unique skill set must learn to lessen his load as well, or the road to a Larry O'Brien will only become less visible.

"I mean, it's almost not like I have anything to figure out," Wembanyama said. "It's almost like I have to play normal, not even good. … It's just like doing the right things is enough. When we play bad, when I play bad, is when we shoot ourselves in the foot. This is why I'm not worried. We're going to be so much better. I'm going to be so much better."

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Source: “AOL Sports”