Victor Wembanyama admitted that San Antonio must learn from the Knicks defeat

With only a quarter of the NBA regular season left to play, much of the conversation around San Antonio Spurs centers on the playoffs. It will be new territory for a young team that has very few players who have enjoyed playoff success. Falling to the New York Knicks recently, Victor Wembanyama led the organization to the Eastern Conference finals last year.

“I think when we look at them, we can take the example of how they came back into the game because we dominated at the beginning and we had one mistake,” Wemby said before taking responsibility. “I made a mistake on the offensive rebound and that’s when they ran away.”

Not just the 114-89 loss in New York snapped San Antonio’s 11-game winning streak but it also served as their worst loss of the season. Previously, a 21-point loss in mid-January to another title contender – the Oklahoma City Thunder – was their biggest loss of the year.

“You see, we can take an example (from) them,” Vembanyama continued. “It only took one spark for them to get going, and then they were at a point where we couldn’t stop them.”

Victor Vembanyama’s details need to be fixed after the loss to the Knicks

Spurs turned the ball over 22 times at Madison Square Garden. Credit the Knicks and their suffocating defense for much of it.

“Sure. You know, we’d get a turnover, especially a live ball, they’d get a fast break or an extra possession. If they scored, they’d be ready, they’d already get back on defense, they’d be ready,” Wemby admitted.

During its perfect February, San Antonio scored at least 110 points in every contest. They scored at least 120 in seven of those games. Wemby and company could only muster 89 in the loss.

“It’s hard for us, for any team, to play half-court defense,” the 2023 No. 1 pick continued. “And if we turned the ball over or took a bad shot after that, they’d get it, they’d get it, they’d get the layup, and it was a snowball effect.

Third in the East, the Knicks are widely considered one of the two teams with the best chance to represent the conference in the Finals. While the Detroit Pistons easily have the best record on that side of the league, the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors round out the top five teams in the conference. Each comes with question marks. Some would say New York too. Although in Vembanyama’s mind, there is no doubt that the Knicks are after their second loss of the season.

“We should have been better, especially on that run in the first quarter. I think that was it,” Wembanyama noted, alluding to a 19-7 lead early in New York.

“For some reason we were a bit hesitant… I was especially hesitant on the three-pointer… I held the ball too much…

We gave them life. We should have been better, especially in the first quarter. It was a game”⬇
-Victor Vembaniama follows #Spurs defeat at the Knicks pic.tvitter.com/VzJJCdCGuD

— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) March 1, 2026

Combine the NBA Cup Finals and The Spurs have now lost twice to the Knicks this season. If they meet again, the Spurs hope to turn those losses into lessons.