Magic Johnson loves Victor Wembanyama. He also thinks the Spurs star might run into a problem in the NBA Finals that he did not have in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Hall of Famer posted his read on X, and it was pointed. ‘Victor Wembanyama dominated the paint on defense during the Series against OKC while playing in a zone, but that won’t work against the Knicks given the 3-point shooting ability of Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby,’ Magic wrote.
That is a real concern, and you can see why he raised it. The Knicks have been shooting the cover off the ball all postseason. Towns is connecting from deep at 48.9 percent in the playoffs. Anunoby is at 48.3 percent. Those are not normal numbers. Those are league-breaking numbers.
The Math Problem for the Spurs
Zone defense works when offenses cannot stretch you out. The Thunder were guard-heavy and Wembanyama was able to anchor the middle, swat shots at the rim, and force OKC into bad looks. Magic is right that the Knicks are a different animal.
If Towns and Anunoby are sitting in the corners hitting 48 percent threes, the Spurs cannot collapse into the paint the way they did against the Thunder. Wembanyama is going to have to step out, defend space, and chase closeouts in a way he has not had to so far this postseason.
That changes everything about how San Antonio defends. Mitch Johnson is going to have to rethink the entire scheme for this series, and the Knicks are going to make him pay for any wrong answer.
Wembanyama Is Still Wembanyama
For all the concern, Wemby is still the best defender in basketball. Spurs opponents shot 19.1 percent worse on attempts within six feet of the rim when he was on the floor during the 2026 playoffs. They shot 5.8 percent worse from three. That is suffocation.
His length is unique. Even in a closeout, he can recover and bother shots in a way other defenders cannot. Magic is not saying Wembanyama is going to play badly. He is saying the matchup with the Knicks is different from the matchup with the Thunder, and the Spurs need to be ready.
Game 1 tips off Wednesday at Frost Bank Center. The Knicks are going to live and die by the three, and Wembanyama is the only player on the Spurs who can change that math.
Magic was right about the matchup. The question now is whether Wembanyama can prove him wrong on the floor.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
