NEW YORK – Even as they authored the second-longest postseason winning streak in NBA history, the New York Knicks knew it wouldn’t be easy to win the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
Beginning Wednesday (Thursday morning, Singapore time), they’ll find out just how arduous the rest of the path might become.
The Knicks will look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals while the San Antonio Spurs will aim to tie the best-of-seven series when New York hosts San Antonio in Game 4.
The Spurs climbed back into the Finals on Monday night, when Victor Wembanyama produced 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks as San Antonio held off the Knicks for a 115-111 win.
The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Knicks, who went 45 days without a defeat following a 109-108 loss against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on April 23.
New York fell two wins shy of matching the 2017 Golden State Warriors, who won their first 15 postseason games en route to the title.
“Every loss kind of hurts the same,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “We knew they weren’t just going to lay down and let us win four straight. We knew this was going to be a battle.”
The battle grew increasingly heated on Monday.
Wembanyama was not charged with a foul after shoving Jalen Brunson to the floor with a little under five minutes left in the first quarter.
“He got away with one,” Knicks backup guard Jose Alvarado said, warning: “That’ll be the last one.”
San Antonio forward Julian Champagnie is expecting an equally tough contest in Game 4.
“The Knicks play super, super physical,” he said. “That’s a part of their identity. We obviously have to do a good job of matching that and doing more of that. But I’m assuming it’s not going to get (any) easier.”
After winning the first two games, the Knicks found it difficult to overcome Brunson’s inefficiency and Karl-Anthony Towns’ fourth-quarter struggles in Game 3 – and must find a solution fast.
Brunson scored a team-high 32 points but on 11-of-25 shooting. He is shooting 37% from the field in the Finals after shooting 48.6% during the first three rounds.
Towns was scoreless in the final period for the third straight game. He has attempted just six field goals in the fourth quarter in the Finals.
“We have, what, 13 games in a row (and) 50 days of film to show what it looks like when we’re at our best?“ Towns said. “We’ll get back to our fundamentals – what makes us great, what made us great – and get back to work tomorrow.”
For the Spurs, Wembanyama produced his first 30-point effort since May 24, when he had 33 points in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 115 points for the Spurs were their most since May 28, when San Antonio beat the Thunder 118-91 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.
For now, it looks like the momentum is with the Spurs.
“What we’ve built with this team is we have an identity that makes everybody dangerous,” Wembanyama said. “Sometimes it will pay off over a season, over a playoff series.” REUTERS