With a little over five minutes remaining in the first quarter of Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, things got a bit heated between Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama. Brunson was trying to set a screen on Wembanyama to free up Josh Hart, but the Spurs star shoved him to the ground with force. The Knicks star guard did not respond too kindly to this, yelling at Wembanyama after picking himself up off the ground.
This effectively set the tone for the game; it was a very physical contest, only the Spurs took advantage of it more than the Knicks did. San Antonio won the game, 115-111, to stay alive in the series, and they benefitted a lot from the whistle — taking 24 free throws in the second half compared to just eight for the Knicks.
Brunson did want to dive deeper into that physical exchange with Wembanyama, instead imploring fans and members of the media to decide for themselves how they must view that kind of contact from the Spurs star.
“Whatever you saw is what you saw,” Brunson said in his postgame presser, via the official NBA account on X (formerly Twitter).
"Whatever you saw is what you saw."
Jalen Brunson on Victor Wembanyama’s early-game shove on him 👀
(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/ibKTUs6oKp https://t.co/9f88ejtinj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 9, 2026
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In real time, it does look like Wembanyama, at the barest of minimums, shoved Brunson to the ground. It's hard to argue against the idea that the officials should have called a foul on the Spurs star on that play.
Some fans on social media are arguing that the referees should have penalized Wembanyama harshly, calling a flagrant foul penalty one (at the very least) on the Spurs big man. Instead, Wembanyama got away with it completely even though it looks clear from the footage that he extended his arm while shoving Brunson to the ground.
It's inevitable for an NBA Finals series to become even chippier the deeper it progresses, and the Knicks will have to bring it, physicality-wise, as they look to protect homecourt.
With a little over five minutes remaining in the first quarter of Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, things got a bit heated between Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama. Brunson was trying to set a screen on Wembanyama to free up Josh Hart, but the Spurs star shoved him to the ground with force.