SAN ANTONIO — The Knicks rang in the new year with an anomaly: a failure over time.
With Victor Wembanyama out after appearing to hyperextend his knee, the Knicks still squandered a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, falling to the Spurs, 134-132, on Wednesday night.
Jalen Brunson missed two of his three big treys in the final seconds, including the clinker, with about 15 snaps left. That represented New York’s last best chance at another nail-biting victory, although a final jump ball involving Kevin McCullar Jr. was involved would ultimately take the Knicks’ last breath with seven seconds left.
“They just excuse my French, but they outsmarted us in a lot of ways,” coach Mike Brown said. “[Spurs coach Mitch Johnson] kicked me. The rest of the team kicked us down. We all took a hit today.”
The Spurs got a career night from St. John’s product Julian Champagnie, who bombed 3-pointers with regularity and finished with 36 points on 11 for 17 from beyond the arc.
Wembanyama added 31 points before his injury with 10:30 left in the fourth quarter. Finally, he returned from the locker room to the bench and witnessed the end of a disheartening night for New York’s defense.
The Knicks (23-10) entered the evening 19-0 when they took the lead after three quarters. They are now 19-1.
“First and foremost was that our physicality wasn’t good. We didn’t figure out how to be physical in the last 48 minutes,” Brown said. “And we’re doing it without making mistakes. We’re making some silly mistakes that we have to do a better job of. I feel like everyone understands that. But now we have to go and do it. So now our physicality is not good. And we just haven’t been able to do that – I don’t know if we’re tired or what, we haven’t been able to sustain anything defensively for 48 minutes. And we’ve won a lot of games and you want to win games and feel good about it. But at the end of the game If we don’t figure out today how we Being able to do what we need to do on defense for 48 minutes, it’s going to be a long year for us and it’s going to catch up with us.”
Brunson scored 29, but shot only 10 for 24. Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out in 33 minutes while scoring 20. But the Knicks played well offensively overall, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 42.3 percent on 3s.
The problem was the defense. Especially against Champagnie.
“He shot the crap out of the ball,” Brown said. “I was a little disappointed in our guys because it almost seemed like we disrespected him. We didn’t pick him up in transition. … He just kept getting worry after worry after look after look. Wide open. … I was very disappointed with the way we defended him.”
It was ugly, but the Knicks had plenty of excuses. They were at the end of a long trip and probably road-weary, having spent most of the last three weeks of 2025 sleeping in hotel rooms. They just squeaked through two lesser opponents, the Hawks and Pelicans.
They were missing two key pieces – Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson – pushing rookie Mohamed Diawara back into the starting lineup.
The Spurs (24-9), a borderline contender as long as Wemby isn’t seriously injured, were likely motivated by their recent loss to the Knicks in the NBA Cup finals, not to mention their back-to-back losses at home to the Cavs and Jazz.
“They know what happened in the cup, they’re going to play with a little extra spirit,” Brown said. “They’ve lost a few here especially lately.”
It looked and felt like a loss in the schedule for Brown’s team. Then, despite a mediocre defensive effort, they hung around until they let go of the rope.
Before Wednesday, the Knicks had won 15 of 18 games, including the NBA Cup title. Everyone was dizzy with the possibilities.
Brown spoke publicly for the first time confidently about the Knicks’ chances of winning the championship.
“You come here and you want to win,” the coach said. “You look at a team on paper, you’re kind of with the team. You think, ‘Okay man, we legitimately have a chance to win this whole thing.’
“But in terms of my preparation with the team and everything, I mean, it’s all the same. We’re trying to win and win at a high level. We have a chance here because of the squad, the guys on the squad and the coaches I have on my staff and Leon [Rose] and Jim Dolan. We have a chance.”
One defeat won’t change Brown’s opinion of his title hopes. But it did remind him that the defense still needs work. Lots of it.
Plus, Brunson and the Knicks finally looked mortal in the clutch.
They trailed late in the third quarter, the result of a 21-5 Spurs run. But then Brunson finally started shooting, and New York went on an 11-0 run to enter the fourth quarter with a 102-93 lead.
Those circumstances always led to a Knicks victory.
See you New Year’s Eve.
“I think sometimes we think, ‘We’re good, we’re going to win this in the end, or we’re going to beat them,’” Brown said. “And that’s not the mentality you should have. There has to be a sense of urgency defensively for 48 minutes.”
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