4 obstacles Spurs must overcome to battle back in NBA Finals

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SAN ANTONIO — In order to achieve the improbable, the road ahead must be laced with an oil slick, a massive pothole and a traffic cop with an attitude. Add one more hazard and then you can comprehend what the San Antonio Spurs are up against right now.

Because: They are not confronting just one force against them in the current state of the NBA Finals, but multiple. How they handle and navigate this will dictate if they win another game, or two, or complete one of the most stirring comebacks in championship history.

Crazy thing is, they’re banking on doing the latter. One game at a time, of course.

“Everybody thinks (and) everybody knows, we’re going to do it,” said Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, boldly speaking for himself and his teammates.

The Spurs are in this position, down 3-1 in the best of seven, because the New York Knicks have been persistently stubborn while the Spurs are still dizzy from untimely mistakes and an inability to close out games. They’ve had double-digit leads in each one, and a 29-point lead in Game 4 and … well, no need to rehash the grim details, that’s all behind them now.

OG ANUNOBY WITH THE PUTBACK.

KNICKS COMPLETE THE 29-PT COMEBACK FOR THE WIN.

LARGEST COMEBACK IN NBA FINALS HISTORY 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ZtWVWY6JsR

— NBA (@NBA) June 11, 2026

So — what lies ahead, starting with Game 5 Saturday? Obstacles, and four in particular.

The first is obvious: Psychological.

This is because the Spurs are just three days removed from that historic loss in New York, a crushing defeat that not only placed them in a do-or-die from this point on, but threatened to strip away their confidence. Even a veteran team would deal with demons after such a loss; what about a young team such as the Spurs, first-timers at this championship level?

It sounds easy to flick away that experience like an annoying fly, much harder to do in reality. Some losses disappear within a matter of moments, others stay stuck to your gut like food poisoning. That’s sports and human nature.

“We’re very confident, but yeah, I wouldn’t say it was so hard to, like, shake off, right? Harder than any other game before, by far, for sure. Now we’re over it. It’s the playoffs. There’s no time to regret things for too long … It felt like there was a time to process this, to really dwell on it. But not anymore,” said Wemby.

How the Spurs respond Saturday will reveal their mental fortitude. For anyone who may cast doubt, keep in mind, this is the same team that ventured into Oklahoma City for a Game 7 in the West Finals and emerged victorious. This is the same team that played without Wemby for a game in the first round and got the win, and this is the same team that lost a pair of home games to open the Finals, then went to the next one in Madison Square Garden and came out on top.

Each of those required a measure of mental toughness because of the situation, and the Spurs aced those tests.

Of course, where they are right now is next-level stuff, and there’s the added issue of Knicks fans populating the Spurs’ home turf Saturday, in case the Knicks end a 53-year championship drought, and make their voices heard.

“Our fans are special,” said Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, “our secret weapon.”

Watch MSG erupt after the Game 4 win from the POV of @kevinjonas! 🤯🗣️

(via: kevinjonas/IG) pic.twitter.com/LV8YQcMZOP

— NBA (@NBA) June 11, 2026

The Spurs’ most immediate task is developing amnesia about this series, since it’s not possible to roll back time for a redo.

“There’s no avoiding that we could be better,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson.

Which leads to the next force: Themselves.

Moments after losing in New York, Johnson made a point to mention, after saluting the Knicks, that the Spurs had a hand in the outcome of all four games. The fact they won only one of them reflected how much they beat themselves in three.

It’s easy to see why: The lost leads, a handful of errors in the moment of truth and some key missed shots.

“It’s not like we’re going out there and getting steamrolled,” said Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox.

The Spurs will need to clean all of that up, and in a hurry, to invite suspense back into this series. It’s certainly possible, because in spite of their mistakes, the Spurs can only grow from this experience.

But does that growth bear fruit next season, or beyond, or in time to salvage this series? That’s the important question.

“It felt like we haven’t skipped any steps because we’ve made almost every mistake we could have possibly done, and we’ve learned from them,” said Wemby. “I’m counting on the fact that we’re going to learn before this series is over and apply.”

The third force against the Spurs? The Knicks, of course.

New York has been far from perfect in this series. But the Knicks, above all, are resilient, as much or more than any recent NBA champ. They find ways to win, even if they’re not playing well. And they have receipts to back this up — 13 straight wins at one stretch in this post-season and only one loss since the first round.

Jalen Brunson is a problem. Other players who shoot below 40%, as Brunson has in this series, would start to hesitate, defer, become overwhelmed by the slump. Brunson is built differently. His confidence is unshakeable. That’s why the Spurs double-teamed him in the final seconds of Game 4; they knew he would take the biggest shot of the night. He missed, but the defensive strategy left OG Anunoby free to crash the boards and execute the now-legendary tip-in.

Anunoby is stamping his worth on this series at both ends of the floor. Not only is he shooting nearly 60%, but effective both inside and beyond the 3-point line, and applying the clamps defensively to whomever he’s guarding.

Also, the Knicks are refusing to buckle from early-game deficits and if anything seem energized by them, based on their second-half responses.

“We just continue to believe in each other, believe in our team, our game plan,” said Towns. “We all we got, and all we need, and it’s more than enough to have a chance to win every single night.”

Finally, history is the fourth force.

Teams that fall behind 3-1 in the NBA Finals have only won once. Perhaps the only folks who truly believe the Spurs can pull this off are the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. They, too, sat in the same uncomfortable chair as the Spurs but lived to tell.

“I think even with that series, the games that they lost, they were losing by double-digits,” said Fox. “The games that we’re losing have all been close games. We still have that belief that we have a chance to win. But we’re taking this one game at a time. We’re not looking at it as we need to win three games.

“We need to win tomorrow and then we give ourselves a chance to play another game. Then you look at that next game. We’re not trying to fast-forward, take the easy way out, take shortcuts.”

There’s a reason a majority of teams don’t overcome 3-1 deficits. That’s a lot of ground to cover and the margin for error is nil. A team must play near-perfect basketball just to pull within 3-3. And such a team needs a bit of luck and a splash of destiny. Any lack of the above will usually make a rally tough if not impossible.

“As far as history,” said Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, the 2025-26 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award winner, “we don’t pay attention to that.”

That’s probably a healthy mindset to keep for as long as this series lasts. There’s really no other choice for the Spurs. They must learn from their mistakes, or else. Finish games strong, or else. Slay these four forces going against them in the NBA Finals … or else.

If the improbable must happen, then why not this way?

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.