Winners, losers from Game 2 of NBA Finals: Karl-Anthony Towns outduels Victor Wembanyama

De'Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs

De'Aaron Fox bounced back from a rough Game 1 to give the Spurs 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, hitting both of his threes and adding a block and a steal. It's the kind of performance that a healthy Fox might have put an exclamation point on in the final seconds — instead of passing off to Wemby before his big miss.

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (first 23:29 of second half)

Wembanyama played like the future of the NBA in the second half. He scored 22 points and started the second half shooting 9-for-15, including a three-point play with 57 seconds left that gave the Spurs a two-point lead. It was a dominant effort on both ends, helping hold the Knicks scoreless for over four minutes down the stretch.

But in the final 30 seconds, it all went wrong. Wembanyama missed a rushed pull-up jumper, trying to get a two-for-one. When he forced a Brunson miss, he threw an outlet pass off Stephon Castle's back that became a turnover. Then he missed a 20-footer to end it

Losers

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (first half)

Wemby had only seven points in the first half and the same number of turnovers as made baskets: two. The Spurs couldn't get their center many paint touches, and the Knicks kept him off the glass. His defense remained intimidating, but before halftime. Towns, Mitchell Robinson and sometimes OG Anunoby simply bullied Wemby on defense.

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

San Antonio head coach Mitch Johnson had a clear objective on defense: Make things tough on Brunson. That was why the Spurs often doubled Brunson to get the ball out of his hands and often pressured him full-court.

The approach led to open shots and offensive rebound opportunities for Brunson's teammates, but he still shot 7-for-25 with four turnovers — though he did make up for it with five steals. Brunson had four points late, but a missed free throw in the final seconds nearly cost his team the game.

Tony Brothers and crew

After Game 1 provided a welcome break from the officiating discourse that has dominated the playoffs, Game 2 saw the referees grabbing the spotlight again, with Tony Brothers' crew going to the whistle early and often.

There were 15 free throws in the first half of Game 1. There were 33 in the first half of Game 2, including a highly questionable technical foul on Mitchell Robinson and a play where Jalen Brunson was whistled for touching Devin Vassell's hair. Towns was called for phantom fouls on consecutive possessions in the third quarter. 

Despite all the whistles, the crew still seemed to lose control of the game late, with broadcaster Richard Jefferson calling it a "wrestling match." The Brothers crew has a reputation for calling a lot of fouls. Friday, it was inconsistent and disrupted the flow of the game.