Magic Johnson Has One Advice for Spurs Head Coach & Victor Wembanyama to Make a Comeback in NBA Finals

The Victor Wembanyama-led San Antonio Spurs just suffered one of the most crushing defeats in NBA Finals history. After leading by as many as 29 points, they allowed the New York Knicks to storm back and win by a single point. With the Knicks now just one victory away from a championship, the champagne bottles are nearly ready to pop in New York City. But Magic Johnson isn't giving up on the Spurs just yet.

Johnson, who has five NBA championship rings, thinks they can still make a comeback, and he offered them some advice and encouragement.

Johnson said that he believes that the series won't end in five games. He said that up to this point, the Spurs have played great, but the Knicks have outplayed them in clutch situations.

"If I'm the Spurs, I'm feeling good," Johnson said on ESPN. "I lost, but I'm going home, we correct some mistakes we made, and we can win and make it a 3-2 series and come back to New York."

He then gave an overview of what Coach Mitch Johnson should have done. "At the end of the third quarter, he should have taken [Wembanyama] out.

Drawing on his own experience playing under Pat Riley during the Lakers' showtime era, Johnson said Wemby should have been given a chance to rest before being brought back into the game late in the fourth quarter. He argued that part of the reason Wemby was unable to take over was the heavy workload he carried throughout the game, something that could have been avoided by sitting the 7-foot-4 star at the right moments.

"At the end of the third quarter, he should have taken him out and said you get this time out, like Pat Riley used to tell me, you're going to get this time out, and you will get another 3 or 4 minutes, then I’ll put you back in to end the game," the Lakers icon added.

Victor Wembanyama played nearly 44 minutes in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, the most of any Spurs player. He remained on the floor even when San Antonio held a lead of more than 20 points.

In the first quarter, Wemby was nearly unstoppable, registering 13 points on a 5-of-7 clip. Then, he started to falter. In the second quarter, he only converted on one of his four attempts. Then, in the second half, he had an abysmal 3-of-14 shooting.

The sudden shift in momentum played a huge role in the Spurs' collapse, allowing the Knicks to escape with a 107-106 victory after trailing by 29 points at halftime and spending almost the entire game behind on the scoreboard.

As Magic Johnson pointed out, the Spurs have played well for most of the series. Their biggest problems have come in the closing stretch.

Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs Have Blown a Lead in Each of their Losses

Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs started Game 1 a bit shaky, but they recovered and asserted dominance midway through. In the third quarter, they completely took control of the game with a 14-point lead.

They could not hold on to it, though, as they allowed the Knicks to make a comeback and win by 10. This, as it turned out, set a trend for the next three games.

In Game 2, the Spurs started hot. They took the lead early, outplaying the Knicks for most of the first half. Early in the second quarter, they even held a 12-point advantage.

However, just as the game approached halftime, it looked like someone had poured ice on them. By the time the second quarter ended, they were already trailing.

The Knicks would go on to lead by as much as 14 points in the fourth quarter, but the Spurs chipped away at it. They did not have enough left in the tank to complete the comeback, though, losing 105-104.

Game 4, of course, marked the biggest collapse in NBA Finals history. After leading by as much as 29 points, the Spurs' offense just seemed to forget how to get the ball in the basket. They lost by 1 and are now trailing 3-1.

The Spurs, however, are not ready to throw in the towel just yet, and despite teams holding a 37-1 record in the NBA Finals after taking a 3-1 lead, Wembanyama remains determined to keep fighting.

“What’s going through my mind right now [is] I think it’s gonna go one of two ways,” he said postgame. “One of two ways, a bad one and a good one. The bad one would be giving up, the good one would be getting stronger through this.”

Game 5 takes place on Saturday at the Frost Bank Center.