SAN ANTONIO -- Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle caught eyes with 12.7 seconds left on the clock and the score tied at 104-104, eagerly anticipating the payoff for the 14-point comeback San Antonio mounted in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Having just contested a Jalen Brunson miss, Wembanyama grabbed his ninth rebound and looked to initiate the fast break for what could have been the game-winning basket. The Frenchman would later admit urgency got the better of him, ultimately leading to the Spurs falling 105-104 to the New York Knicks to go down 2-0 in the series.
With Castle sprinting up the floor near the scorer's table just past San Antonio's bench, Wembanyama fired a pass that bounced off the back of the unsuspecting point guard and into Brunson's waiting hands.
Wembanyama quickly fouled, and Brunson sank what turned out to be the game-winning free throw.
"That's the most frustrating thing: to throw it away after putting in all this work," Wembanyama said. "I threw that one away. I messed up. It's like the body reacts quicker than the mind. We needed to win that game. This game was ours. But at this point it's done. Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and fuel us to the next game? Absolutely."