The young Spurs find themselves fighting for their lives, once again

The Spurs melted down in the second half. What was the play that let you know the loss was coming?

Marilyn Dubinski: There were several plays within the downward spiral that had me losing hope, from Wemby missing three threes in one possession and two clutch free throws, but the moment for me was when Fox got the loose ball with them up one with very little time left, and he had the choice to race to the bucket and get the lead up to three or dribble around and eat some clock. Hindsight is always 20-20, and now it seems obvious he should have dribbled and gotten free throws, but I can’t entirely blame him for going for two guaranteed points to get the lead to three over two non-guaranteed ones. The problem is, of course, he missed, with seemingly a slight hesitation while deciding what to do allowing the defense to recover and the Knicks the chance to take the game-winner.  (I’ll also give him the benefit of the doubt and say he gets there and makes the shot without a bum ankle.)

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Mark Barrington: I think it was when Wembanyama missed both free throws. At that point I knew he was spent and couldn’t save the team, and nobody else was going to step up. Of course, I was yelling at my TV when Fox took an unnecessary shot with a few seconds left, as no one wearing Silver and Black had anything resembling court awareness. That play, like Wemby’s pass off of Castle’s back in Game 2, was the final nail in the coffin, but they had been building that coffin for the entire second half.

Devon Birdsong: I *knew* it was over when Fox made one of the biggest mistakes in Spurs history, but my first real suspicion was the out-of-bounds call on Castle (which the NBA has now admitted was wrong). My hope momentarily lifted when Fox had an open mid-range jumper, but when he missed it (even though Castle redeemed himself on the rebound), my heart sank into my bowels. After Game 3, I wrote that most of this series has felt like a horror film, and I’m not sure if that was predictive or just bad timing, but I had no idea that it could get worse. Watching the 2nd half of that game was like watching characters do…

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Publish date : 2026-06-12 12:15:00

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