The Spurs set Victor Wembanyama up to fail in Game 4 disaster: ‘Flopping around’

The Spurs may have been their own heel on Wednesday night.

A historic 29-point collapse in Game 4 against the Knicks — a 107-106 loss that left them on the brink of NBA Finals runner-up status — perhaps left too much on the extremely high shoulders of 7-foot-4 phenom Victor Wembanyama.

“Second half he plays all but 57 seconds… I feel like he totally ran out of gas,” ESPN insider Brian Windhorst said on “Get Up” on Thursday morning. “I don’t understand why he was not getting more rest in the game. At the end of the third quarter he’d played five more minutes than he played in Game 3 and that was a one-point game this was a 15-point game.

Wembanyama shooting free throws in Game 4 of the NBA finals NBAE via Getty Images

“He couldn’t move defensively, that made it easier for the Knicks and offensively, he was unable to get anything. At one point he went 1 of 10. When he gets fatigued he starts flopping around.”

In Game 3, Wembanyama cemented himself as a force and a Knicks villain, posting 32 points with eight rebounds and six assists in 39 minutes during the 115-111 win at the Garden. He seemed destined to follow it up on Wednesday as he trolled the hometown team throughout the first half as the Spurs built up a 29-point lead, scoring 16 of his own with six rebounds and a pair of massive blocks.

In return, Windhorst believes coach Mitch Johnson did him no favors, playing him 23:02 of a possible 24 minutes as he went 3 of 14 from the field for eight points as San Antonio helplessly watched its lead dwindle.

He finished the night with 43:55 played, well above is postseason average of 34 and his highest non-overtime total of the playoffs with 24 points — his lowest output of the NBA Finals.

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

“I gotta say, if you are going to talk trash and you are going to do some of the stuff that he does — which he does — you can’t let this happen at the end of the game,” the longtime reporter said. 

With just 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, Wenbanyama stepped up to the foul line looking to extend the Spurs’ one-point lead. But the possible fatigue and the overwhelming arena atmosphere appeared to get to him. The center, usually very composed at the line, missed both of his free throws attempts. 

The Knicks seized the opening, with Jalen Brunson driving hard to the basket, scoring a layup that gave the Knicks a 105-104 lead — their first of the game.

“I think it began before that,” the Frenchman said of the fourth-quarter collapse. “I can’t really explain it right now. I don’t know. I think it’s just execution, greediness of some sort. We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half.”

For Wembanyama and the Spurs, now their backs are against the wall. The Spurs will now have to win three straight games to win the NBA championship. 

Game 5 tips off Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.