Starting 5: Spurs stand tall at MSG, win Game 3

A Knicks 3-0 lead? Denied.

With San Antonio’s back against the wall, Wemby answered with a Finals performance for the ages, cutting New York’s series lead to 2-1.

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

Spurs Strike Back: Wemby & Castle lift San Antonio with historic Game 3s at MSG

Turning Point: Inside the Spurs’ 2nd-half scoring surge and defensive closeout

Fox Delivers: Shaun Powell on how De’Aaron Fox’s clutch shot could impact more than Game 3

Knicks Reset: After 46 days without a loss, New York leans on its “0-0” mindset to bounce back

On The Ground: All the sights, sounds and celebs from the Finals’ return to New York

BUT FIRST … ⏰

This afternoon, the Spurs and Knicks will meet with the media – with live coverage on the NBA App and NBA TV at 12:30 ET – as they prepare for Wednesday’s critical Game 4 (8:30 ET, ABC), with New York holding a 2-1 series lead.

Forever Finals: Thirty-nine years ago today, Magic Johnson buried his iconic junior sky hook with seven seconds left, lifting the Lakers past the Celtics, 107-106, in Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals. Los Angeles went on to capture the title in six games.

1. WEMBY, CASTLE FUEL SPURS TO CLUTCH GAME 3 ANSWER

Facing a potential 3-0 hole – a deficit no team has ever overcome in the Finals – the Spurs walked into Madison Square Garden with 19,800-plus fans ready to burst, on hand for New York’s first NBA Finals game in 27 years.

Instead, two young San Antonio stars stole the show – and made history doing it.

Spurs 115, Knicks 111: In a near-must-win spot, Victor Wembanyama turned in a two-way gem (32 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk), while Stephon Castle (23 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) delivered early and late, lifting San Antonio past Jalen Brunson (32 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) and New York.

The victory snapped the Knicks’ 13-game Playoff win streak – the 2nd-longest in a single postseason – while cutting the Spurs’ series deficit to 2-1. | Recap

After losing Game 2 following a costly late turnover and a missed potential go-ahead shot at the buzzer, Wembanyama vowed he’d use it as fuel.

Two nights later, he burned brighter than ever – setting the tone early before joining legends late. | Steve Aschburner’s 4 Takeaways

• Immediate Aggression: After scoring 7 points on 4 shots in the 1st half of Game 2, Wemby had 9 points on 4-of-4 shooting just five minutes in Game 3 to give San Antonio a 19-9 lead
• Timely Answer: New York stormed back with a 42-point 2nd quarter to take the lead into the break. But Wemby responded with a monster 2nd half (17 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk)
• Clutch Close: That included 10 of the Spurs’ 23 points in the 4th and one massive swat on the other end, helping hold New York to just 20 points to close out the win

Rare Air: At 22 years and 55 days old, Wemby became just the third player 22 or younger to record 30+ pts, 5+ reb and 5+ ast in an NBA Finals game.

• His Company? Magic Johnson (20y, 276d) and Kobe Bryant (22y, 289d)
• “It’s the way that everybody would think a great player would react,” said De’Aaron Fox (12 pts) of Wemby’s Game 3 response
• “There was definitely no inkling that I thought he wouldn’t come out here and respond the way that he did.”

But this wasn’t just an all-time stat line from Wemby – it was the answer San Antonio needed.

An answer Wembanyama didn’t deliver alone.

Enter Castle.

• The Spark: The second-year guard set the tone alongside Wemby, scoring 7 points in the opening five minutes and 18 in the 1st half
• The Close: Castle didn’t score again until the 4th quarter – but he delivered five of the Spurs’ biggest points of the night
• Heartbreaker: Pushing to make a late run, a Brunson bucket got New York within four (108-104) with 2:22 left. MSG was on its feet as San Antonio’s shot clock ticked down. No team had hit a 3 all quarter – until Castle pulled from 26 feet
• He Drained It: The Garden fell silent as San Antonio’s lead grew to 111-104 with 1:53 left

• Dagger: After a huge shot from Fox ⬆️, the Knicks had one more chance after an OG Anunoby 3 cut the deficit to two with nine ticks left
• Castle answered again, calmly sinking two free throws to push the lead back to four and seal the win
• “He might be the most mature player on our team, and he’s nowhere near the oldest,” said Wemby of Castle (21). “He’s shown over and over again that he’s capable and that we are right to put our trust in him.”

Young History: Neither Wembanyama (32 pts) nor Castle (23 pts) were alive the last time Madison Square Garden hosted an NBA Finals game in 1999.

But together, they added a new chapter in the arena’s rich history, becoming the first duo aged 22 or younger to each score 20+ pts in a Finals game.

Now, the Spurs are one win away from turning a potential 3-0 deficit into a best-of-three series. And after three clutch finishes, they’re expecting more battles.

• “The job is absolutely not done,” said Wemby. “The hardest is still to come.”

2. SPURS RESPOND WITH 3RD-QUARTER SURGE, LOCK-DOWN 4TH

Up one with just over 2 minutes to go in Game 1.

Up two with under a minute to play in Game 2.

Twice, San Antonio’s 2-0 series deficit was mere minutes away from looking very different, leaving the Spurs with a very clear focal point for Game 3.

• “Our lessons are learned, and I know we’re not going to make the mistakes of the past again,” Victor Wembanyama said Sunday.

But when the Knicks erased a double-digit 1st-quarter deficit for the third straight game in this series Monday, the Spurs had to put those learned lessons into action.

They did so with a two-pronged closeout: an offensive surge in the 3rd quarter and a defensive lockdown in the 4th.

• Efficient Fix: Down 7 entering the 2nd half, San Antonio scored 15 points in its first eight possessions to re-tie the game at 76-76, just over six minutes in
• “We came out and we hit first. It kind of felt like a new game for us,” De’Aaron Fox said of the 3rd-quarter start
• Offensive Outpouring: Seven of the eight Spurs who played in the 3rd scored, with a scoreless Stephon Castle still netting a +6 plus/minus for the frame
• San Antonio’s 35 3rd-quarter points marked the 2nd-highest scoring quarter of the series, immediately following up New York’s Finals-high 42-point 2nd
• NBA.com’s John Schuhmann has more on Game 3’s turning point

After wrestling control back in the 3rd for a 1-point lead entering the 4th, San Antonio buckled down to hold the Knicks to 20 points in the pivotal final frame.

• Silent Start: The Spurs held the Knicks scoreless for first 3:30 of the 4th, building their lead to 7
• Shooting Shutdown: San Antonio cut off New York’s long-range game, holding the Knicks to 2-of-14 from 3 in the 4th, and just 7-of-27 overall
• No One But Brunson: The Playoffs’ leading 4th-quarter scorer (9.5 ppg) logged his 4th-highest scoring 4th of this postseason (12 pts), but only two other Knicks scored on the Spurs in the frame
• “We did a good job closing out possessions,” Castle said after San Antonio won the defensive glass 11-9 in the 4th. “Just not allowing them to get second-chance buckets, especially late.”
• Streak Stoppers: San Antonio held New York to its 2nd-lowest scoring quarter of these Finals, after Game 1’s opener (19 pts), and its 3rd-lowest scoring 4th quarter of these Playoffs

The Spurs conquered in the clutch by keeping the Knicks from getting the lead at any point in the 4th, a recipe they’ll look to replicate in Game 4, Wednesday (8:30 ET, ABC).

3. POWELL: FOX SHIFTS SERIES WITH CLUTCH MAKE

In between Wemby’s high-scoring will to win and Stephon Castle’s clutch shots, the Spurs got a game-sealing lift from a proven closer.

De’Aaron Fox scored half of his 12 points in the 4th, and as NBA.com’s Shaun Powell writes, his last bucket Monday served as a reminder of the kind of closer Fox has been throughout his career:

“Fox waved off Victor Wembanyama — who carried the Spurs all night and common sense screamed that he should’ve been the shot-taker instead — then shook OG Anunoby off the dribble to calmly knock down the biggest shot of his life.

Is that hyperbole? Maybe not …

Maybe the Knicks — and everyone who wondered about Fox in this series — must’ve forgot De’Aaron Fox was the first winner of the NBA’s Kia Clutch Player of the Year award, back in 2022-23?

Well, everyone’s memory has now been refreshed.” | Read More

4. KNICKS RESET AFTER WIN STREAK SNAPPED

They rallied from double digits in Game 1. They rallied from double digits in Game 2. And in Game 3, the Knicks were doing it again.

After trailing by 12 early and 11 after the opening quarter, Madison Square Garden erupted as New York unleashed a 2nd-quarter tsunami.

• Forty-two points in 12 minutes
• A 10-1 closing burst
• A 64-57 lead at the break
• An 18-point swing

This time, though, the momentum of the rally couldn’t be sustained.

• “To be in the position that we were going into halftime, to come out in the 3rd the way we did and to not find a way to win the game, obviously, is disappointing,” said Karl-Anthony Towns (11 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk)
• “But we’re also professionals and have to understand tomorrow we have to get back to work … get ready for Game 4.”

It had been 46 days since the Knicks’ last loss.

Their historic win streak wasn’t built on looking ahead. It was built on a simple “0-0” mindset – treating each game as a fresh start.

According to Jalen Brunson, that won’t change now.

• “It’s very important,” said Jalen Brunson on resetting. “We’ve consistently talked to each other about everything being 0-0. Even now, it’s 0-0…
• “We’ve done our best to try to learn from wins over the past couple weeks. But now we have to learn from a loss.”

In Brunson’s eyes, those lessons start with taking care of the ball.

• In Games 1 & 2, the Knicks averaged 24.5 assists and just 12 turnovers, while the Spurs averaged 19 assists and 14.5 turnovers
• In Game 3, New York finished with only 18 assists and 13 turnovers, while San Antonio committed just eight giveaways
• The Result? The Spurs outscored the Knicks 21-7 in points off turnovers – a 14-point edge in a four-point game
• “We turned the ball over a lot, first and foremost,” said Brunson. “Our live ball turnovers got them out in transition. They were capitalizing off of those …
• “The little things, the attention to detail,” said Brunson, “the stuff that we pride ourselves on, we didn’t do tonight.”

Those details matter in a Finals where New York has outscored San Antonio by just seven points (321-314) through three games.

Still, the Knicks own a 2-1 series lead.

But to take a 3-1 advantage in Game 4, they’ll look to be sharper in a series where every possession counts.

• “They are a great team,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown of San Antonio. “They are well-coached. They have an iconic player. It’s not going to be easy. We have to keep trying to take one game, one possession at a time.”

5. ALL-ACCESS: ON THE GROUND AT MSG AS THE FINALS RETURN

It had been 27 years since New York last hosted a Finals game, and the city was buzzing. Feel the electricity as we take you behind the scenes of Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.

• Blue & Orange Line: New York welcomed the Knicks home and the Finals back to MSG for the first time in 27 years with a spirited subway redesign
• Teams Trickle In: Follow the Knicks and Spurs from arrivals to on-court activity

• Brunson’s Back Home: “Captain Clutch” steps back into The Garden looking to help extend the Knicks’ Finals lead
• Wemby Walks In: Victor Wembanyama sported denim-on-denim while arriving for his fourth career game at MSG

• Jumping Back In: Inside “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Patrick Ewing and Shaquille O’Neal crossed paths, checking up like old times
• “Everyday, I have a bacon, egg & cheese.” Game 3’s Player Correspondent, Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears, is ready for his MSG close-up
• Who’s Who Of NY: From Derek Jeter to Jay-Z, The Garden’s Celeb Row brought out the biggest names for Game 3

• Wait Is Over: The Garden goes crazy as the Knicks starters are introduced
• “Let’s Go Knicks:” The energy inside MSG reached a fever pitch moments before the opening tip
• Special Guests: Knicks fans welcomed Jeremy Lin back to The Garden, and Bronx native Cardi B rocked the halftime show
• “It’s the first time I haven’t felt really welcomed in New York.” Dylan Harper and the Spurs walked away with their first Finals win

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