On Monday evening, the New York Knicks dropped to 2-1 in their NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs with a home loss in Game 3. The Knicks led this one by seven at halftime but ultimately fell apart in the late third and early fourth quarter, and now face a pressure situation heading into Game 4.
One controversial moment occurred in the first half of this game when San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama was caught shoving Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson in the back of the head by cameras, although the play went uncalled on the floor.
Now, the NBA has taken accountability for the mistake.
“NBA head of officiating Monty McCutchen, appearing now on ESPN, acknowledges that a foul was missed on Victor Wembanyama's first-quarter shove of Jalen Brunson and says the league's review is still ongoing regarding whether the play will be deemed a retroactive flagrant foul,” reported NBA insider Marc Stein on X, formerly Twitter.
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As Stein noted, the league can retroactively give players a flagrant foul, which could be the case here, although it wouldn't necessarily benefit the Knicks in any tangible way at this point.
The play for some conjured up memories of Wembanyama's vicious elbow to Naz Reid in the Spurs' second round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and while this incident wasn't quite as violent, it was still a surprisingly hostile display from Wembanyama, who had been regarded as a rather even-keeled player leading up to this postseason run.
Game 4 is set for Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden.
On Monday evening, the New York Knicks dropped to 2-1 in their NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs with a home loss in Game 3. The Knicks led this one by seven at halftime but ultimately fell apart in the late third and early fourth quarter, and now face a pressure situation heading into Game 4.