Category: NBA

Victor Wembanyama is known for many things.

He’s the next face of the league. He’s an “alien.” He’s a 7-foot-4 sensation who can make 3-pointers.

But he may have just added to his lore.

His newest act?

Knicks villain.

He played spoiler on a night when Knicks fans paid over $11,000 to get into Madison Square Garden. He ruined the team’s first Finals game on home soil in 27 years. He sent President Donald Trump, Timothée Chalamet, Spike Lee and Ben Stiller home disappointed.

Right now, Wembanyama is New Yorkers’ No. 1 enemy.

Wembanyama led the Spurs to a 115-111 win Monday in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, dealing a blow to the most populated city in America with 8.4 million residents who were foaming at the mouth to celebrate being one win away from their first championship since 1973.

Not so fast.

Wembanyama had 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field, 2-for-4 from deep, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocked shots to put the series at 2-1.

In a tight fourth quarter in which the Knicks cut the Spurs’ eight-point lead to 113-111 with 9.4 seconds left, Wembanyama was the best player on the court. He had 10 points. He had a blocked shot. He was aggressive on the defensive end, helping hold the Knicks to 3-for-10 shooting in the paint over that period.

It was nightmarish for New Yorkers, who are used to Jalen Brunson playing the hero in those types of tight situations.

Wembanyama not only played spoiler, but earlier in the game he shoved the King of New York, firmly embracing the villain moniker.

With under five minutes left in the first quarter, Wembanyama pushed the back of Brunson’s neck. The Knicks star fell onto his hands. Richard Jefferson said on the ABC broadcast that he should’ve been assessed a flagrant 1 foul.

But there was no whistle on the play.

Knicks fans weren’t pleased. In the second quarter, a “F–k you, Wemby” chant erupted as Karl-Anthony Towns shot free throws. Knicks fans also took to X to voice their displeasure. One Knicks fan wrote, “Wembanyama is turning into a punk.” Another added, “All my homies hate Victor Wembanyama.”

Welcome to a very elite club, Wemby.

Trae Young is its president. To this day, fans chant “F–k you, Trae Young” following games after he tormented them during the first round of the 2021 playoffs, including shushing the crowd after he hit a game-winning shot in Game 1 and then taking a theatrical bow after clinching the series in Game 5.

Tyrese Haliburton also recently joined the club when he wore a hoodie featuring Reggie Miller’s 1994 “choke” gesture after eliminating the Knicks in Game 7 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals.

Miller and Michael Jordan were also proud card-carrying members of that club during their battles against the Knicks in the 1990s.

When Wembanyama was asked if he’s now a Knicks villain, he flashed a smile.

“I guess,” he said. “I’m nowhere near Trae Young level, though.”

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More Coverage on the Knicks during the 2026 NBA Finals

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• The underlying fuel that’s propelling the Knicks through historic postseason run
• MSG’s electric Knicks atmosphere will be on full display as NBA Finals makes ‘really special’ return

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For Wembanyama, this is an honor. It means he’s doing something right.

We all knew this type of performance was coming for him.

There was a change in Wembanyama after Game 2 when he threw the ball off Stephon Castle’s back with the score tied at 104-104 and 9.5 seconds left, leading to a 105-104 loss. Wembanyama took responsibility for that blunder. He blamed himself for the loss.

Wembanyama spent the next few days trying to reset. He went to Gramercy Park in Manhattan to sketch a statue. After the Spurs fell into a 2-0 hole, legendary coach Gregg Popovich advised the team to forget the last two games. Wemy took those words to heart.

In Game 3, Wembanyama was a different player.

He went from waiting for the game to come to him to playing with a sense of urgency from the moment the ball was tipped. He was physical. He was him.

And he did it in New York, under the brightest of lights, under the most crushing pressure.

“At home it really feels like playing six against five,” Wembanyama said. “Here it feels like five against six. … It really shows what teams are made of.”

Now Wembanyama is currently the most hated man in New York.

And there’s nothing that could make him happier.

The Utah Jazz will have the opportunity to draft a generational player regardless of who the Washington Wizards pick at #1. Two of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer will be there to pick, depending on what the Wizards do.

But of all those three prospects, who will survive Utah Twitter the best? Let’s take a look.

Darryn Peterson

Twitter: https://x.com/Darryn_P1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrynp1

Peterson doesn’t post much on his socials. They tend to be self-promotion and team-related tweets, and some Instagram stories about his puppy, Denim. His Instagram profile pic is Kobe Bryant, and his Twitter profile pic is Edward Scissorhands. There’s not a lot you can derive from these about Peterson, but that’s not a bad thing. Peterson is very much focused on basketball, based on his profiles, and it doesn’t look like he’s spending much time interacting. Overall, this is a very good sign for the future. I’m also a fan of his posts relating to Kobe Bryant. If that’s the player the Jazz are getting if they get Peterson, there’s a lot to be excited about for Jazz fans.

AJ Dybantsa

Twitter: https://x.com/AJ_Dybantsa

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aj.dybantsa

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@aj.dybantsa

Dybantsa is much more active on socials and gives a broader window into his life and basketball. Dybantsa also documents his basketball life on YouTube. If a dynamic social presence is what you want from your superstar, Dybantsa is your guy. This is definitely something that could help Dybantsa become an iconic player in the league.

Having a big social presence can be a double-edged sword. Will Dybantsa be satisfied in Utah if he’s not getting all the endorsement deals of a bigger market? Chances are he’ll be fine. He did choose to come to Utah for college, after all.

Cam Boozer

Twitter: https://x.com/CameronBoozer12

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronboozer

Boozer is similar to Darryn Peterson but probably gives a little bit more of a window into his life and his family. On Twitter, he promotes his basketball life as well as his twin brother Cayden Boozer’s.

It’s clear he isn’t spending a ton of time on his socials and uses it for promotion and basketball and not much else. The Boozer family has strong ties to Utah, which makes his socials really fun for Jazz fans. It’s also a bonus for Boozer that he has no connection to one of the colleges in Utah, which would help him avoid any issues with the local rivalry.

The Verdict?

The player most likely to survive Utah Twitter?

Darryn Peterson

Because Peterson almost never posts on Twitter, he has almost zero potential problems. Dybantsa will have a lot of BYU fans, but you can bet you’ll have some rivalry-related tweets coming his way. Boozer is very similar to Peterson on socials, with it being mostly milquetoast tweets. But with Peterson posting less, he gets the edge.

Congrats to Darryn Peterson, who clearly is all about basketball and not much else.

It’s not clear if social media will play into who goes #1 in the NBA Draft. Right now at FanDuel, AJ Dybantsa has the edge at -450 and Darryn Peterson is the second most likely at +380.

It was April 23 — all over again. 

It had been more than six weeks since the Knicks suffered a loss, 45 days since Mikal Bridges was benched in a scoreless effort that led to the Hawks taking a 2-1 lead in the first round. 

But after six-plus weeks as one of the driving forces behind the second-longest win streak in postseason history, Bridges reverted to the indecisive wing prone to disappearing acts, scoring just two points, before getting benched for much of the fourth quarter in the Knicks’ 115-111 loss in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. 

“We gotta be better,” said Bridges, who shot 1-for-5 from the field. “I gotta be better for next game.” 

Bridges, the only player on the Knicks roster with significant NBA Finals experience before last week, looked overwhelmed under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, needing just 29 minutes to lose the aggressiveness and confidence he’d built during the team’s previous 13 games. 

Barely three minutes into Monday’s game, Bridges was on the bench after committing two fouls, and he never gave himself a chance to get in rhythm, repeatedly looking away from the rim when the ball hit his hands. 

Though Bridges was brilliant in the Game 2 win in San Antonio — scoring 20 points, with six rebounds and six assists — he took just six shots in Game 1, the fewest he’d attempted since the first round. 

In the 2021 NBA Finals with Phoenix — when the Suns blew a 2-0 series lead — Bridges scored 27 points in a Game 2 win, then averaged just over four shots per game in four straight losses to the Bucks. 

“Offensively, we got a little stagnant,” Bridges said. “We just gotta keep moving and spacing. … They just played harder than us, more physical. … It starts with me defensively. I think I did a bad job defensively. They scored a good amount of times when I was in throughout the game. For me, it starts with defense and feeding off of that.” 

Two years of inconsistency and anger over the five first-round picks traded for Bridges had been forgotten when Game 3 began, when Bridges received a hero’s welcome during introductions. 

When the final buzzer sounded — crushing the thousands who spent thousands on one of the most anticipated games in the Garden’s history — Bridges was back in a familiar place, trying to make sense of a night to forget. 

“We’re gonna be all right,” Bridges said. “We’re gonna regroup and learn from our loss.” 

We have a series!

The San Antonio Spurs snatched Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals from the New York Knicks 115-111 on Monday, June 8, raining on the parade of the first championship matchup at Madison Square Garden since 1999.

Victor Wembanyama had 32 points and eight rebounds in redemption from throwing a bad pass that turned into the Knicks' winning point in Game 2. The Spurs earned their first victory of the series cutting into New York's lead 2-1 and did so in front of President Donald Trump.

According to the NBA, this is only the second time in NBA history the first three games of the championship series were won by the road team. The only other time was in 1993 when the Chicago Bulls ultimately beat the Phoenix Suns in six games.

The NBA Finals stay in New York for Game 4, which tips off on Wednesday, June 10.

Here's the NBA Finals scores and schedule after Game 3:

2026 NBA Finals schedule

Every game of the NBA Finals starts at 8:30 p.m. ET. All matchups will be broadcast on ABC and can also be streamed on Fubo.

*- if necessary

• Game 1: Wednesday, June 3 | New York Knicks 105, San Antonio Spurs 95
• Game 2: Friday, June 5 | New York Knicks 105, San Antonio Spurs 104
• Game 3: Monday, June 8 | San Antonio Spurs 115, New York Knicks 111
• Game 4: Wednesday, June 10 | San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks | 8:30 p.m. ET | ABC
• Game 5: Saturday, June 13 | New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs | 8:30 p.m. ET | ABC
• *Game 6: Tuesday, June 16 | San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks | 8:30 p.m. ET | ABC
• *Game 7: Friday, June 19 | New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs | 8:30 p.m. ET | ABC

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA Finals schedule, results after Spurs beat Knicks in Game 3

Karl-Anthony Towns’ strong NBA Finals has hit a roadblock. 

Suddenly, he’s not nearly as involved in the offense. In his last five quarters, Towns has attempted 11 field goal attempts and tallied two assists, and all of a sudden the Knicks’ path to their first championship in 53 years isn’t quite as clear. 

Towns was mostly a non-factor Monday night, as the Knicks’ franchise-record, 13-game playoff win streak came to a close in a 115-111 setback to the Spurs at the Garden. 

“It was the way we played and the things that we were doing offensively,” coach Mike Brown said. “We were just coming down and just basically playing ‘drag.’ We’d get the first screen, and then we literally just stood and watched. 

“There was no movement. Like, sometimes KAT has to flash to the elbow. Sometimes he’s got to post up. … They are junking the game up by just putting [Victor Wembanyama] in one of the two corners. So if they junk the game up, I can call a play.

“But sometimes you’re going to have to just move and cut and pass the ball quicker and drive the ball quicker, because it’s almost a zone that they are in to a certain degree, and we didn’t do a good job of attacking it.” 

Towns was held to 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting, after attempting just a single shot in the Game 2 victory in San Antonio.

For so much of this postseason, the Knicks were getting Towns’ best, as a scorer and playmaker.

He was terrific in Game 1, tallying 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. And he was on his way to a monster Game 2 before foul trouble. Since then, he has had trouble getting back into a groove. 

Brown, though, thinks Towns’ lack of involvement of late is a symptom of the Knicks getting stagnant and relying too much on their individual talent. It wasn’t a Towns problem — it was an everyone problem. 

“We just wanted to stand and watch one guy dribble a ton. And then when the ball got passed, there were no quick decisions by the guy receiving the basketball,” Brown said. “So we have actions we can get into that we didn’t do a good job of getting into, first of all, but it’s OK because you’re not going to be able to run plays all the time, especially with how physical they are playing defensively. Sometimes you’ve just got to go by guys. 

“But you’ve got to be smart. You have to take care of the basketball. You have to space right. You have to move the ball. You have to move bodies. … We’ve done that quite a bit, and we didn’t do a good job of it tonight.”

NEW YORK — The San Antonio Spurs might have felt like they were living in the movie "Groundhog Day," but they made sure not to play a starring role in any more sequels.

For the third consecutive game, the Spurs blew a double-digit first-quarter lead, but this time their composure down the stretch – and some sloppy play by the New York Knicks – gave them a much-needed win to get them back into the NBA Finals after two straight home losses while snapping New York's 13-game playoff winning streak.

It won’t be "Knicks in four" after all.

San Antonio’s 115-111 win in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden was not aesthetically pleasing. The Spurs were outrebounded but, at least for one night, there is a sense of relief that they, too, can break a championship drought.

This is the second time ever – and the first time since 1993 – that the road team has won three consecutive games.

Game 4 is Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Spurs did everything right in the first 12 minutes, while sprinting to an early 12-point lead. They passed the ball with efficiency, found open teammates, and let Victor Wembanyama cook with easy buckets inside and ridiculous alley-oops that would put Stretch Armstrong to shame.

San Antonio had 11 assists on 14 made field goals in the first quarter. Those 11 assists for the Spurs were the most in a first quarter of an NBA Finals game since the Golden State Warriors also had 11 in Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.

Wembanyama was excellent, with a game-high 32 points, adding eight rebounds and six assists, as all five San Antonio starters scored in double figures. Wembanyama became the third-youngest player to score 30 or more points in an NBA Finals game behind Magic Johnson (20 years, 276 days – 42 points vs 76ers in Game 6 of 1980), Alvin Adams (21 years, 316 days – 33 points vs Celtics in Game 3 of 1976).

New York did everything it could to help in San Antonio’s cause.

Jalen Brunson led New York with 32 points, and OG Anunoby added 28 for the Knicks, who lost for the first time in 46 days after their Game 3 defeat in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks.

The energy of the sold-out Madison Square Garden left within the first few minutes, as the Spurs scored the first seven points of the game and made eight of their first 10 shots. Not to mention the annoyance of many Knicks fans who had to show up to the game two hours early and adhere to strict security procedures upon entering "The World’s Most Famous Arena" early after President Trump and his entourage descended upon the city to take in the game.

After booing Trump during the national anthem, the Knicks faithful turned their jeers on the officials. New York committed four fouls in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, prompting a barrage of free throws for the rest of the game and constant chants of "refs, you suck." 

New York took control in the late stages of the second quarter, using several spurts and poor San Antonio shooting to claw back and take its first lead of the game at 50-49 on a Brunson 3-pointer, part of an 11-3 run that wiped away a double-digit deficit.

But that momentum left as soon as the Knicks came out of the locker room.

Two straight turnovers to start the third quarter for the Knicks, a four-point play by Julian Champagnie, and a flagrant foul on the closeout quickly erased most of New York’s seven-point halftime lead.

New York went scoreless and committed four fouls in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, leading to a barrage of free throws the rest of the game, along with chants of "bulls---." San Antonio committed 21 fouls, and the Knicks shot 22 free throws. New York committed 23 fouls, sending the Spurs to the line 32 times.

Stephon Castle’s last of his 23 points, a 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining, all but sealed the deal, and De’Aaron Fox’s jumper in the lane with 12 seconds left sent the sell-out Madison Square Garden crowd to the exits.

The thing that carried the Knicks to their 13-game playoff winning streak was missing in Game 3: balanced scoring. Mikal Bridges scored only two points in 29 minutes, and Karl-Anthony Towns was outplayed by Wembanyama, with a pedestrian 11 points and eight rebounds. Towns spent most of his night in foul trouble and was not aggressive attacking the rim, settling for outside shots.

For the Spurs to repeat the trick and make their Groundhog’s Day play turn into another positive, they will need to muck up the game once again, relying on Wembanyama's scoring and his constant presence in the lane. The defensive player of the year had three blocks and affected a dozen other shots, and did his best to intimidate any Knicks player who wanted to score in the paint.

The series will extend to at least five games, and if the Knicks can win the next two games (Game 5 is Saturday in San Antonio), the title drought since 1973 will be a thing of the past.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Spurs’ Game 3 win means: NBA Finals suddenly back in play

The Knicks bench keeps on producing, and this time, one of the contributors was unlikely.

Jose Alvarado was expected. Jordan Clarkson was not.

Their production, however, wasn’t enough to extend the franchise-record 13-game playoff winning streak, as the Knicks started slow and faltered late in a 115-11 setback Monday to the Spurs in Game 3 of the Finals.

Both players, though, provided key moments as the reserves continued to perform well.

Alvarado gave the Knicks a spark after they quickly dug themselves a double-digit deficit and Clarkson provided significant shotmaking in reaching double figures for the first time this postseason.

Clarkson, in fact, had fallen out of the rotation. He didn’t appear in Game 1 and hadn’t logged more than nine minutes since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers. But on Monday he scored 10 points and hit both of his 3-point attempts in 13 minutes. Clarkson also had three rebounds and a plus-eight rating.

Alvarado had four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes, and a plus-five rating. The guard from Brooklyn, who came over in a trade in early February from the Pelicans, has made his mark in this series in limited action. In Game 1, when Jalen Brunson injured his knee, Alvarado made an impact at both ends of the floor.

“He was huge,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “We talked about it during our film session. When Jalen went out of the game, he came in and he kind of stabilized us because we were floundering a little bit. He got us into our offense.”

The Knicks bench has been a major factor in their postseason run back to the Finals for the first time since 1999. A year ago, they ran out of gas, and lost in six games to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals.

But when the starters have struggled in these playoffs, Brown has been able to bring guys off the bench who make a difference.

Did Charles Barkley put a hex on the Knicks? 

The NBA analyst declared the series over at halftime of Game 3 as the Knicks held a 2-0 series advantage over the Spurs. By the end of the game, the Knicks had fallen 115-111 and the Knicks’ NBA Finals lead was cut in half.

“Listen, man, I told you tonight, this series is a wrap,” Barkley proclaimed during the “Inside the NBA” segment at the half, with the Knicks leading 64-57.

"This series is a wrap…"

Charles Barkley at halftime of Game 3 of the NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/x4POzqeGl9

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2026

“Oh hell yeah,” he responded when someone attempted to clarify and ask if he thought the series was over. “I think it’s over.” 

The bold prediction seemed to catch the rest of the panel off guard.

“I’ll put my house against your little house,” Barkley fired off after Shaquille O’Neal suggested they put a wager down since he was so confident. 

Things didn’t go exactly as Barkley expected as the Spurs regained the lead against a Knicks team that shot 25 percent from 3-point range in the second half and just 36 percent from the field. 

And the prognostication led basketball fans to poke fun at Sir Charles online. 

“And this why he never won a ring,” one person wrote on X. 

“Chuck ‘guarantees’ stay the worst curse of all time,” another social media user chimed in with crying laughing emojis. 

“Knew Spurs were good after this,” a third person wrote. 

Barkley couldn’t escape being called out on air, either, with his analysis being thrown in his face postgame — and Shaq ready to accept payment.

“I thought the Spurs were gonna lose,” Barkley said.

“Gimme the damn keys to that house today,” Shaq told him, adding, “Usually when we talk about realty, it’s a 10-day close — I want your ass out my house tomorrow.”

Game 4 of the NBA Finals will take place on Wednesday as the Knicks look to take a 3-1 lead and keep the Spurs from getting back into the series. 

Otherwise, there may be some very angry Knicks fans looking for Barkley. 

The Knicks knew that the Spurs would come out with their best punch to open Game 3 coming into Madison Square Garden facing a 2-0 NBA Finals deficit. 

San Antonio was able to do just that, opening up an 11-point first quarter lead. 

New York shook off the slow start right away in the second, though, getting into a rhythm as they knocked down 14-of-19 shots to put up a finals franchise-record 42 points.

They carried a seven-point lead into the break, but quickly things changed. 

The Knicks’ offense stalled again coming out of the locker room, allowing the Spurs to regain the momentum and capture the lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With Jalen Brunson on the bench due to foul trouble, they wouldn’t score until the four-minute mark of the final frame, and never quite were able to get back into rhythm. 

Clutch buckets kept them alive down the stretch, but they ultimately weren’t able to overcome the woes, as they saw their 13-game playoff winning streak snapped. 

New York shot just 36 percent as a team, including 5-of-20 from three in the second-half. 

They dished out just 18 assists and turned the ball over a total of 13 times on the night. 

“We were as stagnant as I’ve seen us all year,” Mike Brown said.  “We just wanted to stand and watch one guy dribble a ton, and then when the ball got passed there were no quick decisions by the guy receiving the basketball.

“You have to be smart, you have to do a good job taking care of the basketball, you have to move the ball and move bodies, and we’ve done that quite a bit but we didn’t do a good job of it tonight.”

 

 

 

Now all the Knicks can do is learn from this, and make the adjustments heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night.

“I think win or lose as a team, our mindset is always get better the next day,” Jalen Brunson said. “We’ve tried our best to learn from wins over the past couple of weeks, but now we have to learn from a loss.

“But I think the most important thing was that we were going to learn regardless, because we knew that there were things we were gonna have to improve heading into the next game, so the mindset stays the same.”

The Knicks were unable to extend their playoff winning streak and take a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals on Monday night, falling to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3.

New York trailed after the first quarter, but scored 42 points in the second to take a 64-57 lead into halftime. Although, they were unable to hold onto the lead, coming out slow in the third quarter before their fourth-quarter comeback attempt fell short. 

The Spurs outscored the Knicks, 58-47, in the second half and attempted 24 free throws to New York's eight. That wide of a discrepancy was on the front of head coach Mike Brown's mind after the loss, saying he was shocked to see something like it on the NBA Finals stage.

"First of all, I want to get something clear. Coach Mitch Johnson and the Spurs, they won the game tonight. They came and took the game. But I will say this, 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," Brown said. 

"I don't think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team, they're a great team. It's going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play Game 4 and in the second half they get 24 free throw attempts to our eight. And maybe we were fouling, maybe we were fouling, but they foul too... There were opportunities for fouls to be called. To at least try to even the free throws out. 

Brown made it clear the Knicks could have played much better than they did, but it was still "tough to overcome" the difference in free throw attempts in the second half.

"Now, we didn't play good. San Antonio played great. We could've played better, there were a lot of things that we didn't do that we did in Game 1 and Game 2. But to go 24 free throw attempts in a second half... compared to eight. All the shots we took, we got fouled four times roughly for eight free throw attempts. Again, I don't complain much, but I never thought I'd see that in an NBA Finals game, and I saw it tonight. That's tough to overcome when you're playing a great team."

Overall, San Antonio made 25 of their 32 free throw attempts, while New York went 18-for-22 from the line. 

Brown added that the Spurs "level of physicality was great," while his team's "attention to detail wasn't great." He also pointed to allowing Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox to get to the paint with ease and the Knicks' offense not moving the ball well as other main factors in the loss.

"Offensively, we were as stagnate as I've seen us all year. Which helped with the 13 turnovers... the turnover situation, the free throw situation, and our attention to detail about keeping them out of the paint and taking away the vertical threat, not good tonight."

The head coach said he spoke with the officials about the difference in calling fouls and hopes it will be different on Wednesday night in Game 4.

"If they do this in Game 4, where it's 24-8 in the second half, it's going to be tough for us to win... There are a lot of things that we can do better and we're gonna have to do better. But in the same breathe, like I said, hopefully they'll see some more fouls called against them where it's not 24-8. This is a four-point ball game, a one-possession ball game going down the stretch and it's tough to overcome."

Mike Brown is not happy with the officiating after Game 3:

"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." pic.twitter.com/yk3PDJ8HQh

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 9, 2026

Mike Brown wasted no time. 

He came into his postgame news conference and immediately railed against the officiating in the Knicks’ 115-111 Game 3 loss to the Spurs on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, which cut their Finals lead to 2-1. 

“I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight,” Brown said. “I don’t think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free-throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team. They are a great team, OK. It’s going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play Game 4 and in the second half, they get 24 free-throw attempts to our eight. Maybe we were fouling. Maybe we were fouling. But they fouled, too.” 

The Spurs came out, like in Game 2, and made it a point to be as physical with Jalen Brunson and the rest of the Knicks as possible. In the first quarter, Victor Wembanyama blatantly shoved Brunson by his head area, though a foul was not called. 

“I never thought I’d see that in an NBA FInals game. And I saw that tonight.”

Mike Brown rails against the officiating: pic.twitter.com/Ih7PCzt7uG

— Jared Schwartz (@jschwartz115) June 9, 2026

It was actually the Knicks who were given a technical (Josh Hart) and a flagrant (Brunson) when there were a few cases in which one could have potentially been called on the Spurs. 

“Again, I don’t complain much,” Brown said. “I never thought I’d see that in an NBA Finals game, and I saw it tonight. That’s tough to overcome when you’re playing against a great team. … But as a team, if you take away the fouls and the free throws that should have, in my opinion, been a little bit more even, again maybe we fouled that many times but they fouled, too. And it’s not shown at the end of the day on this boxscore.” 

Karl-Anthony Towns did not exactly agree with his head coach. 

“That ain’t cost us the game,” he said. “Turned the ball over. Didn’t execute. Didn’t do what got us 13 straight wins in a row. That’s how you lose a game. We didn’t do what we’ve been doing for 13. We decided to do something different, and it ain’t going to work.” 

The Knicks were called for three fouls in the first 64 seconds of the fourth quarter and were in the penalty for the final 8:10 of the game. 

The Spurs got 10 free throws in the fourth quarter and made all of them. They got another 14 in the third quarter — when they erased the Knicks’ seven-point halftime lead — and made 10 of them. 

“If they do this in Game 4 where it’s 24-8 in the second half, it’s going to be tough for us to win,” Brown said. “… There are a lot of things we can do better and we are going to have to do better, but the same breath, like I said, hopefully they will see some more fouls called against them, so it’s not 24-8. This is a four-point ballgame. Four-point ballgame. One-possession ballgame going down the stretch. It’s tough to overcome.”

Giants Super Bowl champion Eli Manning was counted among the celebs who took in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, taking a seat near the court alongside his wife and Yankees legend Derek Jeter. 

The trio was spotted walking to their seats before the Knicks’ 115-111 loss on Monday night, with wife Abby McGrew walking ahead of Manning and Jeter in the bowels of the home arena.

Manning was shown on the video board during the game, earning himself a roar from the MSG crowd. 

Derek Jeter & Eli Manning have arrived to MSG for the Knicks first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. Presented by Tri State Cadillac. #sponsoredpic.twitter.com/aP1Euy23Pa

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) June 9, 2026

Some of New York sports’ biggest names joined Manning, aside from Jeter.

The Garden was flooded with familiar faces, including Alex Rodriguez, Rick Pitino, Francisco Lindor, John Franco, Juan Soto, Todd Zeile, Woody Johnson, Jonathan Quick, Adam Fox and Vincent Trocheck.

The Knicks celeb fans were hard to miss as well, with Timothée Chalamet and Ben Stiller — who was also joined by his wife Christine Taylor — Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey and “Law & Order” stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni.

The latter two had a major hiccup with their courtside seats throughout the game, as they were getting blocked by a referee.

Unfortunately for the home supporters on hand, the Knicks suffered their first loss in the postseason since their first-round series against the Hawks, putting an end to their 13-game win streak.

It also ends the Knicks’ first chance to close the series at home as the series goes to 2-1.

Following Game 4, the series will head to San Antonio on Saturday.

If necessary, the Garden will host Game 6, which is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16.

Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 115-111 Game 3 loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals on Monday night at the Garden:

Hero

Victor Wembanyama started the game with two dunks and didn’t stop attacking. The Knicks couldn’t slow down the 7-foot-4 Frenchman. He torched them for 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting along with eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks. 

Zero

Mikal Bridges was invisible Monday night. After his stout Game 2 performance, the two-way wing attempted just four shots, making only one of them. He was also benched for most of the fourth quarter and was tentative upon finally reentering the game. 

Unsung hero 

Wembanyama needed help from his friends, and he got plenty out of Stephon Castle. The former Connecticut star played a pivotal role in the Spurs’ first win of the Finals. Castle came up clutch, making two key free throws with the San Antonio lead down to two and 6.8 seconds remaining. He finished with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists in 38 strong minutes. 

Key stat

9: The Knicks missed their first nine 3-pointers of the fourth quarter and went 13-for-37 from distance. 

Quote

“I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight.”

— Knicks coach Mike Brown on the officiating in the second half. 

Mariska Hargitay’s courtside side seat came with an exclusive view — just not one that you’d expect from the pricey position.

The “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star’s courtside seats at Madison Square Garden had their view blocked by the referee when the official was on her side of the court during the Knicks’ 115-111 Game 3 loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals on Monday night.

The actress can be seen looking around the ref to see the play with co-star Christopher Meloni.

Spending the entire game watching Mariska Hargitay courtside as she tries to look around the referee pic.twitter.com/X3hB4wnGHN

— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) June 9, 2026

For someone who said she “wouldn’t miss [Game 3] for the world,” not being able to actually watch must be quite the letdown.

While not every ticket was as expensive, two courtside seats went on auction for $1 million — though Hargitay is a regular at Knicks games and likely a celebrity row invitee.

In general, Game 3 is the most expensive ticket in NBA Finals history, with an average price of $7,149, per SeatGeek.

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Hargitay have an unlikely friendship thanks to the former Villanova player’s SVU fandom.

Brunson grew up watching SVU, first with his dad.

“It’s a pregame show for me. I’ve always loved that show,” Brunson said on his podcast “The Roommates Show” co-hosted with teammate Josh Hart. “I’ve never been like super super like starstruck — super starstruck. I saw her, I was like ‘Oh shit.’ The first time we met, it was awesome. We talked and everything.”

After multiple interactions on the court, the two have sparked a relationship that led Brunson and his wife to the premiere of “My Mom Jayne” at the Tribeca Film Festival last year.

Hargitay also said she drew inspiration from the guard during her Broadway debut in “Every Brilliant Thing.”

“He is so singular and magnificent. He’s a magnificent human,” she said.

Brunson is leading the Knicks with 26.6 points per game in the postseason, also adding 6.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds coming into Game 3. He scored 35 points in Monday night’s loss.

The Garden will host Game 4 on Wednesday night before the series heads back to San Antonio on Saturday.

When the San Antonio Spur starting lineup was introduced, the loudest boos were for Victor Wembanyama. Before the national anthem was halfway finished, the loudest boos were for President Sex Offender. By the end of the night, the people’s ire was centered on the officials. And through it all, the Spurs did not care.

San Antonio played from ahead most of the night and this time, critically, finished ahead, winning 115-111 and making it a 2-1 series. Russell Richardson will dive more deeply into things in his recap, but I don’t think I’m stealing his thunder by saying this was the kind of game that has a feel unique to the NBA. The feel of some unseen agenda at work, one unconcerned with the merits of fair play.

Did the Spurs deserve to win? They did. They had the best player on the floor tonight, and he was the biggest difference. The Knicks have been playing string theory basketball for nearly two months; you don’t have a lead over them in the final two minutes of the first two games if you’re not a bit of the real deal yourself. The Spurs were physical. They were improved. They were lots of things, some of which I didn’t care for. At the end of the day, they are all they cared to be: Game 3 winners.

They were always going to come out swinging and, per usual this series, those early swings were connecting. Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio to their third first-quarter double-digit lead of the Finals (ordinals!), opening the scoring with a dunk, then dunking again, then single-handedly destroying an entire Knicks possession before blocking a seemingly safe Mikal Bridges corner 3.

The visitors were in the zone pretty much the entire quarter, with 11 assists in the 12 minutes. Early foul trouble for Jalen Brunson meant early minutes for Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson, after which the Knicks began chipping away at the lead. One reason they were down but never out: the Spurs either scored on their first shot or they didn’t score, period, going nearly the entire half without a second-chance point.

The prolific efficiency of Josh Hart and OG Anunoby kept the Knicks coming and the deficit going; a Brunson 3 over Wembanyama gave them their first lead at 50-49. As hot as the Spurs were in the first, the Knicks were hotter, hitting 14 of 19 shots while getting to the line 14 times in what became a 42-point frame (a franchise Finals record, and boy isn’t that sweet to type) and a seven-point lead at the break.

San Antonio was aggressive the first two games; this time they turned it up a notch. Wembanyama got away with a grossly unethical assault on Brunson’s head. On one Spurs’ set Castle ran baseline at Brunson like you’re taught to in practice — football practice. Devin Vassell gave Landry Shamet, minding his business, a bit of the extracurricular. Wemby laughed at a visibly pissed Brunson after his cheap shot. Vassell laughed after his dickery with Shamet. What a bunch of creeps.

And yet while none of those acts was deemed flagrant-worthy, even after video review, Brunson was called for a flagrant for being in Julian Champagnie’s landing area after a 3, a call Tim Legler immediately disputed. Maybe it was the assault and battery, maybe it was the magnitude of the moment, but the Knicks had a ton of different-wavelength turnovers, where the passer threw the ball to someone who didn’t cut when expected or who cut when it wasn’t. Still, heading into the fourth it was only a one-point game in the Spurs’ favor.

With Adam Silver in the arena the bluetooth was probably a little better than usual in the officials’ earpieces, so when the final quarter got going so did the whistles, putting San Antonio in the penalty faster than you can say “James Bowie was a nudnik.” Alvarado and Hart are both beautiful players, and probably people, but having two shooters who don’t wanna shoot — even making four 3s tonight, Hart never *wants* to shoot — against that defense is like waking up to a boa constrictor wrapped around you and nodding off again, hoping it all works out. However long that plan takes to fail, it’s gonna fail.

The teams went at each other back and forth, both relentless. Dylan Harper nearly put the Spurs up nine midway through the fourth, only to be stopped on the break by Anunoby, leading to a Brunson 3-point play that cut the gap to four. Soon after, a Brunson turnover ended with Wembanyama free throws, pushing the edge back up to eight. The stats will say the Knicks had offensive rebounds. That’s a lie. The Spurs seemed to move a little faster and jump a little higher when it came to the defensive glass.

Brunson checked in with seven and change left and took it to the cup for a lay-up, making it 100-95 Spurs. Video replay should be abolished, but in this game it saved the Knicks from getting screwed by the whistle even more times. The Knicks very nearly got a great look a few times, only for Wembanyama to erase the space. A Towns 3 would have made it a three-point game, but it wouldn’t stay down. A Brunson jumper at the buzzer pulled the Knicks within four.

As the clock passed the two-minute mark, Castle replied with a 3-point buzzer beater to make it 111-104. With precisely 33.3 seconds left, another Brunson 3, New York’s first of the fourth in 10 tries, made it 111-108. It felt like one more stop and the Knicks would find a way to tie it, take it to overtime, take a 3-0 series lead. De’Aaron Fox doesn’t care about our feelings. The rich man’s Avery Johnson pulled a ‘99 Game 5, hitting the jumper that felt like the nail in the coffin.

But this team doesn’t know when it’s dead. OG caught an inbounds tight in the corner, turned and busted out the Evan Fournier, making a difficult trey to cut it to deux. If Castle would simply have obliged by missing one of his two free throws with 6 seconds left, we could have looked forward to the drama of a last-second shot to settle a Finals game. Though knowing the Spurs, they would have fouled before letting the Knicks get a shot off. And Castle made both free throws anyway. Creeps.

That’s all for now. Check back in for Russell’s take. One day at a time, loves.