It had to end at some point. Thirteen straight wins in the playoffs – sweeps of Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland, plus two gutsy road wins in San Antonio to open the Finals – and the Knicks had started to feel genuinely unstoppable. But Game 3 at Madison Square Garden had a different ending, and now this series is very much alive. The Spurs won 115-111, cutting New York’s lead to 2-1 and booking themselves a return trip home where Games 5 and potentially beyond await.
Monday night was a tough one to watch if you’re a Knicks fan. Not because the team quit – they didn’t – but because so many things went sideways at once, and San Antonio was sharp enough to take full advantage.
It started badly from the opening tip. The Knicks were sloppy and careless with the ball early, turning it over multiple times as the Spurs raced out to a 19-9 lead. The crowd at MSG was buzzing with Finals energy for the first time in 27 years, and the home team was playing like they had somewhere else to be. Making things worse, Mikal Bridges picked up two fouls almost immediately and was essentially benched for the rest of the first quarter, which the Spurs won convincingly 33-22. Without one of their key perimeter defenders, the Knicks looked exposed and disorganized.
Then came one of the best quarters the Knicks have played all postseason. The second quarter was something special – New York came storming back, outscoring the Spurs 42-24 in a run that felt like it could bury San Antonio for good. OG Anunoby was magnificent, knocking down shots from everywhere and scoring 11 of his 28 points right there in that stretch. Jordan Clarkson, in his first real spotlight moment of the Finals, was outright perfect and so was Josh Hart. The three of them shot 7-for-7 from the field, including 4-for-4 from three. Jalen Brunson added 10 points of his own in the quarter shooting 3-for-4, including two threes. Going into halftime with a lead, the Knicks had all the momentum in the world.
But it didn’t last. The Spurs, to their credit, came out of the locker room with an answer. The third and fourth quarter belonged to San Antonio, and from that point on they never really let go.
Victor Wembanyama finally showed up in this series in a way that had been expected from the start. He finished with 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting – efficient, physical and absolutely relentless. Stephon Castle added 23 points alongside him, the two of them forming the kind of one-two punch that makes San Antonio genuinely dangerous in a short series. Wembanyama was not just good – he was also dirty at times. At one point in the first quarter, he shoved Brunson and then laughed in his face, the kind of play that should have drawn referee attention but somehow didn’t. The refs had no problem handing Josh Hart a technical after a heated exchange with Luke Kornet, but the shove on Brunson? Nothing. The Spurs got under the Knicks’ skin all night, and it worked.
The free throw disparity in the second half was hard to ignore. The Spurs shot 24 free throws to just 8 for the Knicks – a gap that raised eyebrows across the arena and apparently in the post-game press conference too, where Mike Brown made clear he noticed. That’s not a coincidence, that’s a game.
For all the Knicks’ second-quarter brilliance, there were too many individual performances that came up short when it mattered. Brunson put up 32 points, but it came on 11-of-25 shooting and he turned the ball over five times. The rest of the team added eight more turnovers. That’s 13 combined – a number that’ll haunt the film review.
Karl-Anthony Towns, in a matchup the Knicks desperately needed him to win, shot just 10 times from the field and finished with 11 points. Against Wembanyama. On the biggest stage possible. That’s simply not good enough, and the contrast between the two big men was stark and undeniable. Bridges, returning in the second quarter after his foul trouble, never found his footing. He scored his only two points at some point in the third quarter and was otherwise a ghost. Landry Shamet – who had been so valuable throughout these playoffs – went 1-for-8 and finished with 3 points. A disappearing act at the worst possible time. Clarkson’s 10 off the bench was the best reserve contribution of the night, while Hart did what Hart always does – 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, fighting for every single one.
The closing stretch was full of drama but ultimately heartbreaking. Brunson hit a three with 33 seconds left to cut it to 111-108 and MSG was roaring. Then De’Aaron Fox came down the other end and hit a two-pointer that made it a five-point game, and that was effectively that. Anunoby nailed a corner three to bring the Knicks within two, but there wasn’t enough time left to work with. The Knicks fouled, Castle stepped to the line and knocked down both free throws, and that was the ballgame. The Knicks had to fold.
The series now heads back to New York for Game 4 on Wednesday, with the Knicks still firmly in control at 2-1. But San Antonio just proved they can win on this floor, and Wembanyama just proved he can carry them there. This thing got interesting.
rady
KnicksOnline.com founder. Software tester by day time, sports shooter by free time. Rocking with the orange and blue since the mid 90s.