The San Antonio Spurs hold on in the final seconds to take Game 3 and snap the New York Knicks 13-game playoff winning streak.
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NEW YORK — It’s not what prompts diehard fans to paint their faces in team colors or fork over the equivalent of a month’s rent/mortgage for tickets. And it certainly wasn’t what the 19,812 folks who arrived extra early Monday to squeeze into Madison Square Garden had in mind.
People who show up to see NBA Finals games in person understandably want to see the home team win. And that hasn’t happened yet in this series, with San Antonio’s 115-111 victory over New York in Game 3 yet another triumph for the visitors.
For only the second time in Finals history, the road team has won the first three games. The other time came 33 years ago when Chicago won twice in Phoenix, then dropped its first game back at Chicago Stadium. That Finals went to six games before the Bulls prevailed.
That’s a pattern the Spurs would love to emulate. Their task in Game 3 was obvious after dropping the first two games in Texas. Nobody goes down 3-0 in an NBA seven-game playoff series and survives.
Nobody has to now. Frankly, the Spurs didn’t just beat back the championship-starved fans at MSG for one night – they effectively did it for two, because Wednesday’s Game 4 (8:30 ET, ABC) cannot be the clincher. The Finals will go back to Frost Bank Center for a fifth game at least, no matter how raucous the Garden gets again Wednesday.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who had the kind of bounce-back performance that should worry the Knicks, was asked about the home/road dynamic. “At home it really feels like playing six against five,” he said. “Here it feels like five against six.”
But he smiled, which told the story of Monday. The last time MSG was the site of a Finals game, Spurs guard Avery Johnson hit a baseline jump shot to ice the title in Game 5. This time, it was Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox sinking a 16-foot step-back jumper to snuff the Knicks’ late hopes.
Here are takeaways from the Spurs’ Game 3 victory:
1. Wembanyama puts Games 1 & 2 lessons to use
Anyone who expected Wembanyama to be shooed out of his first Finals with a dismissive “go away kid, ya bother us” wave of the Knicks’ hands hasn’t been paying attention to the 7-foot-4 wunderkind’s ability to process experiences, new info and feedback good or bad. At each stage of this 2026 postseason, his first, he has performed, taken some lumps, learned and put it all to use within a game or two.
“Yeah, I’m sure Victor has numerous sources of motivation,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. “I don’t think any of us are surprised or expect anything different than a strong performance and him being on his front foot in terms of being in attack mode.”
Victor Wembanyama finishes with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks in a Game 3 win.
The foundation of Wembanyama’s resurgence Monday was laid over the final 24 minutes of Game 2, when he scored 22 of his game-high 29 points. This time he had nine in the first quarter 15 by halftime, seven more in the third and 10 while playing the entire fourth quarter.
Not surprisingly, the game tracked Wembanyama’s assertive scoring. The Spurs hit New York hard in that first period, almost mandatory if they were going to undercut the MSG crowd and climb back into the series. The Knicks got the better of him and his teammates in the second, a 42-24 spanking that, uh oh, had San Antonio trailing by seven.
Back from intermission, the Spurs flexed again as they had in the first. And in the fourth, Wembanyama scored half as many points as the entire New York squad combined.
Wembanyama said his group communicated better than in Games 1 and 2.
“Knowing our coverages,” he said. “Knowing our plays on defense, knowing our plays on offense. Being there early and letting our teammates know what to do if we see things.”
His strong game, which included eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks, earned him a nasty chant from a Garden crowd that, over Wembanyama’s nearly 39 minutes of court time, generally grew weary of his excellence.
New Knicks’ nemesis? “I guess. I’m nowhere near Trae Young level, though,” the Spurs center said with a smile.
2. Some weeds in this Garden for Knicks
Thirteen consecutive playoff victories is a rare accomplishment, beating so many quality opponents when they’re locking in and adjusting to the same foes for a week or two at a time. The Knicks’ streak didn’t make it to 14 because of things San Antonio did but more so, reliable tactics that New York let slip Monday.
“We just wanted to stand and watch one guy dribble a ton,” said coach Mike Brown, describing their offense as “stagnant.” “And then when the ball got passed, there were no quick decisions by the guy receiving the basketball.”
With OG Anunoby bailing out some poor possessions, the Knicks scored those 42 points in the second quarter, then managed to get only 47 in the entire second half. Credit San Antonio’s tighter defensive performance for some of that.
“Game plan execution,” Johnson said. “Starting in the right spots, early communication, good switching, good job shifting, understanding when we were rotating, getting to our inverts. Then just working through the possessions.”
3. Both teams were up to challenges
Coaches’ challenges played out front-and-center in the thick of the final quarter, with the teams getting three calls overturned in a span of barely three minutes.
The first was the most dramatic: With his team up 100-93, Wembanyama seemingly was fouled as he sank a 3-pointer from out front. The Knicks appealed and, sure enough, it was Spurs guard Keldon Johnson who pushed Mitchell Robinson into Wembanyama. Points literally came off the scoreboard, Wembanyama’s chance for a four-point play was gone and Bruson scooted in for a layup that cut the gap to five.
Next it was San Antonio’s turn. Johnson’s staff spotted Karl-Anthony Towns clamping down on Wembanyama’s arm and, upon review, the game officials saw it too. That gave the Spurs two free throws.
Finally, the Knicks questioned an out-of-bounds determination, which was corrected to have the ball going off Spurs guard Dylan Harper. A long New York possession ensued, until Landry Shamet’s lazy finger roll got swatted by Wembanyama.
4. Gripes about Game 3, seeds for Game 4
San Antonio outshot and outscored the Knicks from the foul line for the third straight game. Overall, the Spurs have been outscored 321-314 in the series so far. But on free throws, they have a 64-50 edge.
That edge came about entirely in the second half Monday, when the Knicks got outshot 24-8 from the line and outscored 20-6. The free throws in the third quarter: 14-3. Brown hit the postgame media session in full protest, giving proper credit to the Spurs’ overall performance before quibbling with the referees.
“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,” the Knicks coach said. “Maybe we were fouling. But they fouled, too.”
New York was whistled for 23 fouls in the game to San Antonio’s 21. But in the second half, it was 15-10. Brown might get fined for airing his gripe publicly, but it was hard to argue with his math: A team that shoots eight free throws only got fouled in the act of shooting (or while in the bonus) only four times.
“I talked to them and they said, ‘Well, this is a foul, this is a foul,” Brown said. “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.”
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
