The San Antonio Spurs escaped with a close 115-111 victory on Monday night on the road, ending the New York Knicks' 13-game postseason winning streak.
After the final buzzer, the officiating became the game’s most controversial point and it actually started getting attention from the first quarter, in fact. Spurs outshot the Knicks 24 to 8 at the free-throw line during the second half of their 115-111 victory.
Knicks coach Mike Brown did not hold back in the post-game presser, saying, "I never thought I'd be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team's eight."
And Victor Wembanyama's no-call shove on Jalen Brunson in the first quarter only added fuel to an already burning fire around the refs.
But when reporters asked Karl-Anthony Towns about the frustration around the officiating, the Knicks big man took a completely different approach. Towns had his worst game of the series, finishing with just 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, eight rebounds, and one assist. Instead of complaining about the referees, he blamed his own poor play and the team's sloppy execution.
KAT said, "That ain't cost us the game. We turned the ball over. Didn't execute, didn't do what got us 13 straight wins in a row."
Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about the frustration around the officiating tonight:
"That ain't cost us the game. We turned the ball over. Didn't execute, didn't do what got us 13 straight wins in a row." pic.twitter.com/Wnwljy7yky
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 9, 2026
Just to recap, New York committed 13 turnovers compared to San Antonio's eight. The timing of those mistakes caused their defeat, as the Spurs scored 21 points off those giveaways. The referees had no contribution here.
According to Towns, the Knicks beat themselves. Game 4 tips off Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The Knicks will make sure not to make those same mistakes again, especially since they still hold home-court advantage.
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