Thanks for following along this season and reading/listening/watching my work on @TheSpotUpShot and Small Market Bias. The Spurs being back in the Finals brought back memories of my pal @mdeleon, who I covered the last Finals run with in 2014.

Steph Castle in the locker room after the game

Wemby: "I don't think we could have learned more and gained more experience in one playoff run and in one season. Personally, in 18 months, it's been, it's been hard and full of lessons."

Mitch Johnson: "We weren't ready to win an NBA championship. Better team won, we did a lot of good things, and we didn't finish the job, and that's what it is"

Spurs locker room spoke about losing double digit leads in every game against the Knicks... I asked De'Aaron Fox if that was the most frustrating part about this series "Yea I think so, don't want to sit here and be like you were the better team but you know every game we were able to build up this lead and kind of just watch it wither away" #porvida | #GSG

Spurs center Victor Wembanyama: “What I’m pissed about is there’s probably 100 games before we can be back in the Finals. ... I’m going to have to hold that inside of me and slow down and wait and execute for 100 games.”

NBA Finals Game 5

Spurs pre-game ritual turned into a battle of the fans.

Do or Die.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson: “Tonight is the most important game of our season, and we’re playing the same opponent now for a fifth straight time, and hopefully we can continue to improve in terms of our execution, finishing out games, and playing to our standard for more than 48 minutes tonight.”

Mitch Johnson: “I don't get into social media. I think I've been fired 212 times and we've traded Fox 72 times. We still have to show up and play tomorrow and I've got to coach.”

De’Aaron Fox on his blocked layup late in the game instead of dribbling it out to get fouled: “I just thought I’d outrun him.”

Spurs fell victim to what plagued them all season - building and then losing big leads after missing multiple 3-pointers early in the shot clock. For the most part, Spurs overcame those blown leads to win, but tougher to do in the pressure of NBA Finals against a veteran team.

Spurs’ De’Aaron Fox on attempting the layup late rather than running the clock: “I just thought I’d be able to outrun [Knicks’ OG Anunoby]. That’s it.”

Wemby on how the Spurs move on: "Holding each other accountable, communicating, not pointing fingers, and after that we either got it or don't, but we've proven that we can surpass these difficulties, and even though we haven't been there before, I'm believing that we're built this way, and we're gonna use the better of this, and tighten us up."

Dylan Harper on the offensive approach in the second half: "We went away from everything we were doing. I think in the first half a lot of shots went in, a lot of tough shots went in, but really that was because we was playing the right way, and I think we got away from that second half because the lead, but we just can't take our foot off the gas. I mean, it's one thing for me to sit up here and say, but another thing for us to go out there to do it."

Victor Wembanyama on the Spurs’ record collapse in the NBA Finals: “Execution, greediness…We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half.”

Spurs center Victor Wembanyama after a Game 4 collapse: “It was painful, of course. It feels like we worked too hard and gave up our lead. It's as simple as that. It just hurts.”

Mitch on Keldon in Game 3: "I thought he played with really good energy. I thought he tried to rebound himself into the game and play good team defense, and that's what we need from him. We know he can score the basketball, and that will come with just minutes and opportunity, but his ability to rebound for us on both ends and be a strong team defender is what we need him to do."

STEPHON CASTLE TONIGHT: • 23 POINTS • 5 REBOUNDS • 5 ASSISTS • 8/14 FG CLUTCH ASS FREETHROWS TO PUT THE GAME AWAY!!!!