Victor Wembanyama, like 'Simeone' to attempt the comeback: "Let's go match by match"

The San Antonio Spurs are facing a critical situation in the NBA Finals, but no one in the locker room seems willing to give up. Following the painful defeat in the fourth game against the New York Knicks, who overcame a 29-point deficit to secure the greatest comeback in Finals history, coach Mitch Johnson defended De'Aaron Fox, who was criticized after the game. Victor Wembanyama also spoke.

Fox had a tough ending in the fourth game. The point guard only made one of his five shots in the last quarter and ended the match with four turnovers. Additionally, he played a key role when, with 13.1 seconds left and the Spurs up by one point, he attempted a transition layup that was blocked by OG Anunoby. Shortly after, Anunoby grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed three-pointer by Jalen Brunson and scored the basket that sealed the historic New York comeback.

Despite the criticism received, Johnson made it clear that his confidence in the player remains unchanged.

"I don't engage in social media. I've been fired 212 times and we've traded Fox 72 times. People have their opinions, and I don't care. I care about the opinions of important people in our building, organization, and locker room. De'Aaron Fox will have the ball in his hands at the end of tomorrow's game, and I have complete confidence that he will respond, as he has done countless times for us," said the coach.

On his part, Fox played down external comments and stated that the team is focused on learning from the mistakes made.

"It's not like people have my phone number to call me. I don't watch those shows. It doesn't matter. It can't be changed. We're trying to turn the page, keep learning from the mistakes we made, how we lost the lead, and how we closed out poorly. Now we're thinking about the next game," explained the point guard with a smile.

The Spurs did not hold an on-court practice on Friday, but they did have a video session to analyze what happened in the fourth game. Devin Vassell pointed out several aspects that the team needs to correct to stay alive in the series.

"What we saw was simply a lack of execution. We made many defensive mistakes, especially in communication. Offensively, we deviated from our game plan. We had good shots, but we feel that when Fox and Steph Castle attack the rim, they create opportunities for everyone. We'll be fine," stated the forward.

Despite being on the brink of elimination, optimism still prevails in the Texan locker room. San Antonio has held double-digit leads in all four games played so far, a circumstance Johnson sees as evidence that his team has been able to control long stretches of the series.

Wembanyama, with a clear mindset

The strongest voice came from Victor Wembanyama. The French star stated that the team firmly believes in the possibility of overcoming the 3-1 deficit and becoming only the second team in history to win an NBA Finals after being in that situation, matching the feat achieved by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

"Yes, absolutely. We all think that, we all know we're going to do it. We have to focus solely on the next game and move forward step by step. It would be a mistake to spend energy thinking about multiple games at once. It's one game at a time," Wembanyama concluded.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Victor Wembanyama, a lo "Simeone" para intentar la remontada: "Vamos partido a partido"