Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs failed to get even one win at home in the first two games of the NBA Finals series against Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.
They lost Game 2 last night in a grueling 104-105 loss after coming back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie it at 104-104 before a costly Wembanyama turnover killed their hopes in the most crucial play of the game.
One of the most pivotal parts of stealing this win on the road was stifling Victor Wembanyama. Earlier in the matchup, the Knicks threw everything they had at him, including their six-foot-tall point guard, Jose Alvarado, trying to box him out intensely to negate his impact on rebounding.
During the second quarter, on one such play, Alvarado was trying to box out Wembanyama, when the seven-foot-five French star shoved Alvarado aside for boxing him out.
The Knicks guard took exception to the incident and began complaining to the officials as the Knicks’ offense broke out in transition. On the very next play, he fouled Stephon Castle, clearly in frustration with the previous call not going his way.
Watch the early part of this clip as New York’s Jose Alvarado slams into Wemby to keep him out of the paint, but doesn’t like how Wembanyama reacts. He complains to the refs.
Doesn’t get his way so he takes out his frustration on Stephon Castle on the fast break.
The… pic.twitter.com/TTMvpIs5kA
— SpursRΞPORTΞR (@SpursReporter) June 6, 2026
A debate broke out on social media as fans argued whether this incident was Alvarado’s fault or Wembanyama and the officials’. Most fans were very unhappy with the officiating, saying Wembanyama gets a lot of leeway on physical contact simply due to his size.
“They let Wemby get away with anything.”
“Lol, y’all are soft if you’re gonna throw your shoulder into someone, expect a little shove back.”
“Quickly rising on the list of dirtiest, whiniest, most annoying, and most entitled players in the league.”
“He is the definition of a sore loser. The second something doesn’t go his away or he’s down, he just does some bs.”
“Meanwhile, Mitch Robinson touches him and gets T’d up, what the f—!”
“On further review, the WWE take-down attempt by Wemby on Alvarado is not a foul.”
The Knicks held Wembanyama to 29 points, nine rebounds, and two assists, while going 11-21 from the field (52.4 FG%) and 2-6 from beyond the arc (33.3 3P%). To be fair, it was Alvarado who initiated the contact with Wembanyama, so he can’t be unhappy if Wembanyama tries to get his body off of his own.
Although he could have found a better way to evade the contact, once Alvarado got into his body, Wembanyama had no other option but to avoid being nullified in the play completely.
Stopping the French star was a key part of the Knicks’ scouting report. While talking to Mallika Andrews of ESPN, Jalen Brunson admitted that even though Karl-Anthony Towns was the primary matchup on Wembanyama, guarding him had to always be a team effort.
Several teams around the league have realized that one of the keys to stopping Wembanyama is to be physical with him. So teams tend to throw a lot of players at him and seek to initiate contact with him.
Therefore, the question of the permissible physicality in the league has become more prominent this season, especially in the world of the San Antonio Spurs. It will be interesting to see if Alvarado says something about Wembanyama, but as of now, all the Knicks players are focused on one thing: getting the Larry O’Brien trophy to New York.
Both teams are now headed to New York for Game 3 on Monday, June 8, at Madison Square Garden. Since the Spurs were not able to get a win in this series in the first two games in the absence of a hostile crowd, do you think they can steal a win in New York’s pandemonium to extend this series? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
