San Antonio forward Victor Wembanyama had a mixed performance in the Spurs’ harrowing 107-106 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
The Spurs allowed the Knicks, who trailed by as many as 29 points, to cement the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.
Shannon Sharpe Blasts Victor Wembanyama’s Performance
During Thursday’s segment of the “Night Cap” podcast, analyst Shannon Sharpe blasted Wembanyama for his performance down the stretch when the Spurs lost their first-half momentum.
“Wemby? Don’t think we didn’t see you. Don’t think we didn’t see that now,” Sharpe said. “What shows me also, when a guy starts shooting 3s, ‘Hey, looking for somebody to bail you out.’ What did he do? He went to the paint with Robinson, saying, ‘Yeah, I’m in your head.’ Now he just wants to sit out there.
“He’s gonna have to get better. The thing is, they can’t give him a breather because Luke Kornet has been awful; he played four minutes and was zero, zero, zero, one steal, zero, and three fouls.”
Wembanyama missed a pair of free throws with 1:47 remaining and the Spurs trailing 104-103, which would have given them back the lead.
The Spurs star still managed a double-double of 24 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks, but after dropping 16 points in the first half of San Antonio’s 76-point eruption, he went 3-for-14 in the second half for eight points as the team’s offense collapsed to just 30 points.
During his postgame news conference, the reigning DPOY was defiant of the Spurs’ chances of turning the series around in San Antonio.
“We’ve proven we can surpass these difficulties,” Wembanyama said. “Even though we haven’t been there before, I’m convinced we’re built that way and we’re going to use the better of this. It’s going to tighten us up.”
Wembanyama, who escaped a flagrant foul in Game 3, incurred the ire of Knicks fans during the game when he taunted Mitchell Robinson after the Knicks center was handed a flagrant foul for a forearm thrust at the forward’s chin.
Wembanyama then collected a flagrant foul 1 of his own in the third quarter of the feisty game, when he elbowed Karl-Anthony Towns. He is now at risk of a one-game suspension after accumulating three postseason flagrant points.
The spotlight on San Antonio’s spectacular collapse has been on Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, who opted to go for a layup that was blocked by OG Anunoby with the clock running down, rather than holding on to the ball and forcing the Knicks to foul him.
