The San Antonio Spurs finally found a way to win against the red-hot New York Knicks, ending their 13-game winning streak in the playoffs, with a 115-111 win at Madison Square Garden.
Victor Wembanyama had his best scoring performance of the series, finishing with 32 points to go with eight rebounds, six assists, and three blocks. His teammate, Stephon Castle, also stepped up with 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists, as well as clutch free throws to extend his team’s lead near the end of the game.
Jalen Brunson again led his team, matching Wemby’s 32-point performance, as well as dishing out five assists and grabbing five rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns, who had been stellar in the first several games, finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
At the postgame media session, Towns was informed that his coach, Mike Brown, was critical of the officiating being so lopsided, particularly with a free-throw discrepancy in the second half. However, Towns disagreed with his coach’s assessment of what cost the Knicks this game.
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“Nah, [the officiating] didn’t cost us the game. Turned the ball over. Didn’t execute. Didn’t do what got us the wins in 13 straight wins in a row,” Towns told reporters. “That’s how you lose a game. We didn’t do what we’d been doing for 13.”
Towns said his team “throwing the ball away” was a particularly glaring issue. The Knicks had 13 turnovers compared to eight for the Spurs. San Antonio also capitalized off those Knicks’ turnovers, scoring 21 points off them.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown spoke at length about how he doesn’t complain much about the officiating, but questioned why the Spurs had 24 free throws in the second half compared to only eight for his team.
The majority of the turnovers were from Brunson, who had five, while Towns only had one for the game. However, Brunson, Towns, Mikal Bridges, and reserve Landry Shamet all got into foul trouble, with four or more personal fouls each.
It was definitely a better performance for the Spurs, who may have seized back some momentum with an important win at what’s considered the biggest venue for basketball. The crowd at Madison Square Garden was full of Knicks superfans and other celebrities who popped up for Game 3.
Among those who watched the Knicks lose were regulars Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, and Spike Lee, as well as musician Jay Z and actors Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni.
The series is now 1-2 in favor of the Knicks, with Game 3 of the NBA Finals occurring at MSG at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
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