{"id":914980,"date":"2026-06-23T20:12:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T01:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/spurs-victor-wembanyama-shakes-off-game-2-miss-by-taking-over-game-3-of-the-nba-finals\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:12:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T01:12:44","slug":"spurs-victor-wembanyama-shakes-off-game-2-miss-by-taking-over-game-3-of-the-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/spurs-victor-wembanyama-shakes-off-game-2-miss-by-taking-over-game-3-of-the-nba-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs&#8217; Victor Wembanyama shakes off Game 2 miss by taking over Game 3 of the NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<div>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/author\/stephen-whyno\"><\/p>\n<picture data-crop=\"60x60\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"60\" height=\"60\" ><source width=\"60\" height=\"60\" ><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"60\" height=\"60\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/3ace8ac\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2316x2316+0+0\/resize\/60x60!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fd6%2F06%2F559e97cd425999c3ef10259051ff%2Fwhynomug-stephen-whyno.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\">\n<\/picture>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=\"1781010757000\" data-recent-thresholdinhours=\"1\"><br \/>\n                    <template data-date-tpl>Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]<\/template><br \/>\n                    <span data-date>\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n                <\/bsp-timestamp>\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>    <bsp-page-actions><\/p>\n<p>    <\/bsp-page-actions><\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Victor Wembanyama sat in Manhattan\u2019s Gramercy Park on Sunday and drew the statue of 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth.<\/p>\n<p>Turns out, it was the perfect mind-clearing activity that helped him shake off his <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/spurs-victor-wembanyama-knicks-nba-finals-c7e32c398eeb18a616541dd6199cd880\">miss at the buzzer<\/a><\/span> in Game 2 and take over <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nba-finals-knicks-spurs-game-3-c4229e24d8254eca7125de7137f50ab7\">Game 3 of the NBA Finals<\/a><\/span>, preventing the San Antonio Spurs from getting pushed to the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really tried to relax,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cThe playoffs is like a whirlwind. It\u2019s hard to put your head out of the water, and sometimes it\u2019s like I don\u2019t even (have) to watch the game back, by the way. I just need a little time off, let my brain cool down and recover \u2014 recover as much for the body as for the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wembanyama made the first two shots he attempted on Monday night on the way to scoring 32 points in a <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nba-finals-knicks-spurs-game-3-c4229e24d8254eca7125de7137f50ab7\">115-111 victory<\/a><\/span> over the New York Knicks. He had nine points in the first five minutes, including an alley-oop on the first basket of the game and a dunk on the next possession.<\/p>\n<p>Spurs Coach Mitch Johnson said getting the ball to Wembanyama inside was not a strategy different from any other game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe never told Victor don\u2019t shoot an open 3-point shot, even if it\u2019s early in the game,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe wanted to put pressure on the paint and the rim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wembanyama was a force on both ends of the court, especially late when it mattered most.<\/p>\n<p>After delivering the pass to Keldon Johnson for his layup that tied the score at 76 with 5:38 left in the third, Wembanyama hit a 3-pointer from 29 feet out to put the Spurs ahead. He scored the first basket of what turned into a dominant fourth quarter, including six free throws.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWemby played great,\u201d Knicks coach Mike Brown said. \u201cHe had probably seven lob dunks because we didn\u2019t follow attention to detail and try to take that away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With four minutes left and the Knicks looking to stage another comeback, the 7-foot-4 big man from France surged to block what looked to be an easy layup by Landry Shamet.<\/p>\n<p>Wembanyama finished with eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks in what was close to a must-win situation. No team has fallen behind 3-0 in the finals and come back to win the series.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think any of us are surprised or expect anything different than a strong performance and him being on his front foot in terms of being in attack mode,\u201d Mitch Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>Teammates were <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/victor-wembanyama-spurs-nba-finals-c0c6cc248e832c5448282016998b0140\">not at all worried about Wembanyama<\/a><\/span> in the aftermath of the 22-year-old star clanking a shot off the rim that would have been the <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nba-finals-game-2-knicks-spurs-a40b8d9e1e48cb7f3070d13bef98cc52\">Game 2<\/a><\/span> winner. Johnson said his recommendation was to shoot again, and he it made clear the Spurs want the ball in Wembanyama\u2019s hands at important moments.<\/p>\n<p>Before the game, Brown said of containing Wembanyama, \u201cYou hope you can make him work at the end of the day, and you hope he misses some shots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wembanyama missed seven shots from the floor, going 11 of 18 and silencing the crowd that at one point directed a vulgar chant his way. Asked if he was becoming the latest New York villain, he quipped: \u201cI guess. I\u2019m nowhere near <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/atlanta-hawks-new-york-knicks-philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-ec25c188c14b2aa191ffa7e4fc024ffb\">Trae Young<\/a><\/span> level, though.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He could surpass the longtime Atlanta Hawks and now-Washington Wizards guard as soon as Game 4 on Wednesday, when Wembanyama gets the chance to help the Spurs try to even the series in Game 4 back at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP NBA: <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nba\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> Lawanda Kucera <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMimgFBVV95cUxQVFBqVDNvZHNyZEotdnFFdkJZS20xS1VuSXJqLXJfQi1mVklKSDRHSjNIakMyZGVKV1hxSFVES0tlNENUSktPSXdRcUt1Y3B1OVBiUndFVGo2cnJINGQ1NUJ6a3BZSVV0cWlJQjYxUXFBTWJlaTlUZTNyZ0VhRmFKZklBYmFBWmowaHNMWE42ZHYyemxabUZLaWpn?oc=5\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] \u00a0 NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Victor Wembanyama sat in Manhattan\u2019s Gramercy Park on Sunday and drew the statue of 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth. Turns out, it was the perfect mind-clearing activity that helped him shake off his miss at the buzzer in Game 2 and take over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":914981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1867,29917],"tags":[14507,7669],"class_list":["post-914980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spurs","category-victor","tag-spurs","tag-victor"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}