The Spurs’ magical run has been reduced to fantasy

Welp, the Spurs had a good run.

Heading into Game 2 of the NBA Finals, it was obvious what was on the line.

If they fell to the Knicks 2-0, their season would be over. There was no coming back from that against a team that had won 13 playoff games in a row.

Not with the next two games at Madison Square Garden.

Not with a city so excited to see their team in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years that the average asking price for Game 3 had soared past $10,000.

Not with Karl-Anthony Towns playing some of the best basketball of his career. Not with Jalen Brunson en route to establishing himself as a household name.

For the Spurs, Game 2 was equivalent to Game 7. It was do or die.

The Spurs essentially flatlined in a 105-104 loss.

The Spurs’ magical run is over. Have teams come back from a 2-0 deficit in the Finals? Yes, but it’s rare. Teams trying to claw their way out of that hole are 5-31. No team has ever done it after losing two straight at home.

Against the surging Knicks, it’s improbable. Impossible. Fantasy.

This was supposed to be the coming-out party for Victor Wembanyama as the next face of the league. His inauguration into basketball royalty. His red carpet walk into the history books.

Instead, he spent the first half of the game owned by Towns, who held the 7-foot-4 phenom to just seven points and five rebounds over that period before he exploded for 22 second-half points in a failed attempt to save his team’s season.

“Lots of emotions of every type,” Wembanyama said. “I mean, not every type, only the negative type. Yeah, I threw that one away. I messed up. We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game. This game was ours. But at this point, it’s done. Yes, am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely.”

This was supposed to be the San Antonio’s reclaiming of the basketball world after missing the playoffs six straight seasons following 22 consecutive postseason appearances, including winning five championships over that period.

Instead, it felt as though Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” was the soundtrack for Friday evening on and off the court as Knicks fans took over Frost Bank Center.

During the national anthem, Knicks fans shouted “Go Knicks” so loudly that it could be heard across the arena. In the hallway at halftime, New Yorkers clad in blue and orange jerseys gathered in groups loudly cheering for their team, drowning out Spurs fans’ breathless attempts to be heard over them.

Wembanyama & Co. tried to turn things around in the second half.

The Spurs went on a 14-0 run to tie the score at 97-97 with 2:59 left. Wembanyama led the way. He tried to play hero.

But it wasn’t enough.

After Wembanyama made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 104-104 with 39.3 seconds left, he missed a 17-foot pull-up jumper, threw the ball away while attempting a pass to Stephon Castle and then missed a go-ahead 20-foot attempt with two seconds left.

“I’m still very blurry,” Wembanyama said when asked what happened on those possessions. “That’s the whole problem. I need to have more poise, more control over the game.”

Now the Spurs’ season is swirling the drain.

After the Spurs’ 105-95 loss in Game 1, they were nonplussed. The 21-year-old Castle called San Antonio the better team. The 22-year-old Wembanyama seemed surprisingly calm and claimed he wasn’t worried. Their youth revealed itself in unearned cockiness.

Now it’s time to panic.

Up until this point, the Spurs’ postseason run was remarkable. Wembanyama is going to take over the league. The Spurs are going to win multiple championships under him. He’s the real deal.

But the Larry O’Brien Trophy is now promised to the Knicks.

Wembanyama’s inexperience is showing. He didn’t have the requisite hunger at the start of the game. He had a hangover from the thrill and excitement of the Spurs’ Game 7 win over the reigning champion Thunder.

He didn’t take the moment seriously enough.

Now the Spurs’ magical season is teetering by a hair over the precipitous cliff of a long offseason of regrets and what ifs.

For the Spurs, it was great while it lasted.

But it’s over.