All eyes were on Victor Wembanyama.

After the San Antonio Spurs’ all-world superstar disappointed in his NBA Finals debut, questions about how Wembanyama would respond dominated the discussion going into Friday night’s Game 2 at the Frost Bank Center.

Wembanyama, for one, wasn’t worried.

“It’s almost like I have to play normal, not even good,” Wembanyama said after that Game 1 loss to the Knicks. “It’s just, like, doing the right things is enough. … We’re going to be so much better. I’m going to be so much better.”

But the towering Wembanyama came up short again, committing a costly turnover and missing the final shot at the end of the Knicks’ 105-104 win.

With the score tied 104-104, Wembanyama contested a mid-range jumper by Jalen Brunson and corralled the rebound.

But Wembanyama, seeking an outlet pass, threw the ball to Stephon Castle, who wasn’t looking. The ball bounded off of Castle’s back and into the hands of Brunson, whom Wembanyama then fouled.

Brunson made 1 of 2 free throws, giving the Knicks the lead with 9.5 seconds remaining.

On the other end, Wembanyama got a clean look from about 20 feet away, but he missed it.

And now the Knicks lead the series, 2-0.

“A great player got a great shot,” Karl-Anthony Towns said on the ESPN broadcast. “It just didn’t go in.”

Wembanyama had given the Spurs their first lead of the second half with an and-1 layup with 57.3 seconds to go, which proved to be San Antonio’s final points.

He missed another would-be-go-ahead jumper with 30 seconds left.

Wembanyama finished with 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting, nine rebounds, four blocks and four turnovers.

Twenty-two of those points came in the second half after a conspicuously quiet first half in which Wembanyama attempted only four shots.

That’s after Wembanyama scored 26 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks in the Spurs’ Game 1 loss, but he shot just 6 of 21 from the field, including 2 of 9 on 3-pointers, and committed four turnovers.

He was largely held in check by Towns, whose effort and physicality prevented Wembanyama from getting to his spots in the paint.

When guarded by Towns, Wembanyama shot 2 of 11 in Game 1, according to the NBA’s head-to-head tracking data. Only six of Wembanyama’s 21 shots in Game 1 came within three feet of the basket, and he finished with just one dunk.

“We’ve got to get him moving in space and toward the rim, whether that’s on rolls or running in transition,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said after Game 1. “But we need the pressure on the rim and the force in the paint. They did a good job of, obviously, being physical and showing crowds. We need to do a better job of establishing that early on.”

Again guarded by Towns, Wembanyama was a bit more aggressive to begin Game 2. But that quickly faded.

Wembanyama’s first basket was a dunk a little over four minutes into the game, set up by a driving Keldon Johnson, who drew Towns over as a help defender. Wembanyama added another layup in the waning seconds of the first quarter.

But those were the only shots inside the paint that Wembanyama attempted in the first half.

He settled for — and missed — a pair of 3-pointers.

He drove on Mitchell Robinson in the second quarter and created space on the baseline, but he passed up that shot and swung the ball back outside.

Wembanyama went into halftime with just seven points on 2-of-4 shooting with five rebounds and a pair of turnovers, both on bad passes late in the second quarter.

Defending Towns also continued to be a challenge for Wembanyama — the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and premier shot-blocker — because Towns is more physical, and his 3-point prowess forces Wembanyama to leave his sweet spot in the paint.

That was evident during the Knicks’ final two possessions of the first half.

On one, Wembanyama played up on Towns at the 3-point line, and Towns found a cutting Mikal Bridges for a layup.

On the next, Wembanyama sat in the paint and left Towns open for a corner 3-pointer, which he made to give the Knicks a 56-52 lead at the break.

Towns had 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds at halftime.

Wembanyama got going in the third quarter, scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Notably, two of those baskets — a 3-pointer and another jumper — came after Towns picked up a pair of questionable fouls, giving him four and forcing him to the bench with 6:01 left in the quarter,

And before Towns returned with 10:15 left in the fourth quarter, Wembanyama hit another 3-pointer over Robinson, who gave him too much space at the top of the key.

Wembanyama was 3 for 3 during that stretch with Towns out of the game.

Wembanyama also made several key plays during a 14-0 run by the Spurs, during which they rallied to tie the game, 97-97, in the fourth quarter.

His lay-up with 4:17 remaining cut the Spurs’ deficit to five points. His block on Brunson on the next possession preceded a Devin Vassell 3-pointer.

About two minutes later, Wembanyama finished an alley-oop from De’Aaron Fox, cutting the Knicks’ lead to one point.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

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