- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,151,784
- Reaction score
- 59
Madison Square Garden waited 27 years for this.
The Knicks waited about 12 minutes to stop playing like the moment had grabbed them by the throat.
And that was enough to make Game 3 harder than it needed to be, and too much to overcome by the end.
The Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 115-111, Monday night at the Garden, missing a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. The Knicks still lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 set for Wednesday at the Garden.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 32 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks for San Antonio. Stephon Castle added 23 points, including 18 in the first half. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 32 points but fought foul trouble and turnovers. OG Anunoby had 28 points, while Josh Hart added 16 points after keeping the Knicks afloat early.
This wasn’t the clean Garden coronation New Yorkers wanted.
The lines outside the Garden stretched for blocks before tipoff because of the Secret Service presence tied to President Trump’s attendance. Inside, Trump sat behind bulletproof glass in a luxury suite. A mix of boos and cheers came from the crowd when he was shown on the Jumbotron during the national anthem.
Then the game started, and the Spurs gave the Knicks a different problem.
Wembanyama scored the first points of Game 3 on a lob dunk over Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks followed with a turnover, another turnover and a blocked 3-pointer by Mikal Bridges. San Antonio jumped ahead, 7-0, before Hart hit a 3 to settle the Knicks at all.
Bridges picked up two fouls by the 8:52 mark of the first quarter. Brunson committed an offensive foul. The Knicks’ passes sailed everywhere. Wembanyama kept catching the ball near the rim, and the Spurs kept turning the Knicks’ early mistakes into points.
San Antonio led, 33-22, after the first quarter. The Spurs shot 60.9% from the field in the period. The Knicks committed four turnovers that became six San Antonio points.
Brunson and Wembanyama had a rare shoving exchange after Brunson took exception to contact from the 7-4 star. Hart later got tangled with Luke Kornet after a coast-to-coast layup, then was assessed a technical foul after a brief dust-up.
Hart also gave the Knicks their first breath. He hit two 3s in the first quarter, then drilled a third before halftime. At the break, he had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. He’d done a little bit of everything, even on a night when the Knicks were trying to stop the game from slipping out of their hands.
For a while, they did.
Jose Alvarado changed the energy in the second quarter. Jordan Clarkson, the San Antonio native, checked in for Deuce McBride and hit a 3. Anunoby attacked. Towns gave the Knicks good minutes on both ends. Brunson returned with the Knicks down four and immediately found Towns on a drive to the rim.
The Knicks trailed by 12 late in the first quarter, then stormed all the way back. Brunson’s first 3 of the night gave them a 50-49 lead with 4:18 left in the second quarter, their first lead of the game. By halftime, the Knicks led, 64-57, after outscoring San Antonio, 43-24, from the final minute of the first quarter through the break.
The building had found itself. So had the Knicks.
Then they gave the game back.
The Knicks opened the third quarter with the same problem that had ruined the start of the night: back-to-back turnovers. Brunson then was assessed a Flagrant 1 for a reckless closeout on Julian Champagnie’s made 3-pointer, and the Spurs cut the Knicks’ seven-point halftime lead to 64-63 less than two minutes into the half.
Brunson answered with one of the strangest makes of his postseason. He drove, got fouled, turned almost fully away from the rim and still flipped the ball in backward for an and-one. It was ridiculous.
But the quarter kept working against the Knicks. Brunson picked up his fourth foul with 4:29 left, forcing Brown back to Alvarado and Clarkson. Clarkson kept giving them something, even rebounding his own miss and scoring on the second try.
Towns got stops. The Knicks stayed close. The Spurs stayed hungrier.
San Antonio led, 92-91, after three, then entered the fourth with the advantage the Knicks couldn’t afford to give away. Brunson sat early with four fouls. The Knicks struggled to find quality offense. The Spurs reached the bonus with 9:18 left, a gift in a one-possession Finals game.
Brunson checked back in with the Knicks down five, but San Antonio kept coming. Wembanyama appeared to push the Spurs’ lead to 10 with a 3-pointer from the top of the key while drawing a foul, but the call was overturned after review when officials ruled Keldon Johnson pushed Robinson into him. The Knicks got the ball back, down seven, with 7:46 left.
They never fully seized the opening. The Spurs led, 108-100, with 4:29 remaining, and the game that once looked like it might send the Knicks one win from a championship started moving the other way. A desperate rally in the closing minutes came up just short, and San Antonio took care of business at the line to close things out.
Game 3 didn’t end the Knicks’ control of this series, but it did remind them how quickly control can vanish in the Finals.
They still lead, 2-1. They still have another chance Wednesday at the Garden. But Monday was the missed chance, the one that could have pushed San Antonio to the edge and put the Knicks within one win of its first championship since 1973.
Instead, the Spurs gave the series a pulse.
The Knicks gave them the opening.
Continue reading...
The Knicks waited about 12 minutes to stop playing like the moment had grabbed them by the throat.
And that was enough to make Game 3 harder than it needed to be, and too much to overcome by the end.
The Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 115-111, Monday night at the Garden, missing a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. The Knicks still lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 set for Wednesday at the Garden.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 32 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks for San Antonio. Stephon Castle added 23 points, including 18 in the first half. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 32 points but fought foul trouble and turnovers. OG Anunoby had 28 points, while Josh Hart added 16 points after keeping the Knicks afloat early.
This wasn’t the clean Garden coronation New Yorkers wanted.
The lines outside the Garden stretched for blocks before tipoff because of the Secret Service presence tied to President Trump’s attendance. Inside, Trump sat behind bulletproof glass in a luxury suite. A mix of boos and cheers came from the crowd when he was shown on the Jumbotron during the national anthem.
Then the game started, and the Spurs gave the Knicks a different problem.
Wembanyama scored the first points of Game 3 on a lob dunk over Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks followed with a turnover, another turnover and a blocked 3-pointer by Mikal Bridges. San Antonio jumped ahead, 7-0, before Hart hit a 3 to settle the Knicks at all.
Bridges picked up two fouls by the 8:52 mark of the first quarter. Brunson committed an offensive foul. The Knicks’ passes sailed everywhere. Wembanyama kept catching the ball near the rim, and the Spurs kept turning the Knicks’ early mistakes into points.
San Antonio led, 33-22, after the first quarter. The Spurs shot 60.9% from the field in the period. The Knicks committed four turnovers that became six San Antonio points.
Brunson and Wembanyama had a rare shoving exchange after Brunson took exception to contact from the 7-4 star. Hart later got tangled with Luke Kornet after a coast-to-coast layup, then was assessed a technical foul after a brief dust-up.
Hart also gave the Knicks their first breath. He hit two 3s in the first quarter, then drilled a third before halftime. At the break, he had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. He’d done a little bit of everything, even on a night when the Knicks were trying to stop the game from slipping out of their hands.
For a while, they did.
Jose Alvarado changed the energy in the second quarter. Jordan Clarkson, the San Antonio native, checked in for Deuce McBride and hit a 3. Anunoby attacked. Towns gave the Knicks good minutes on both ends. Brunson returned with the Knicks down four and immediately found Towns on a drive to the rim.
The Knicks trailed by 12 late in the first quarter, then stormed all the way back. Brunson’s first 3 of the night gave them a 50-49 lead with 4:18 left in the second quarter, their first lead of the game. By halftime, the Knicks led, 64-57, after outscoring San Antonio, 43-24, from the final minute of the first quarter through the break.
The building had found itself. So had the Knicks.
Then they gave the game back.
The Knicks opened the third quarter with the same problem that had ruined the start of the night: back-to-back turnovers. Brunson then was assessed a Flagrant 1 for a reckless closeout on Julian Champagnie’s made 3-pointer, and the Spurs cut the Knicks’ seven-point halftime lead to 64-63 less than two minutes into the half.
Brunson answered with one of the strangest makes of his postseason. He drove, got fouled, turned almost fully away from the rim and still flipped the ball in backward for an and-one. It was ridiculous.
But the quarter kept working against the Knicks. Brunson picked up his fourth foul with 4:29 left, forcing Brown back to Alvarado and Clarkson. Clarkson kept giving them something, even rebounding his own miss and scoring on the second try.
Towns got stops. The Knicks stayed close. The Spurs stayed hungrier.
San Antonio led, 92-91, after three, then entered the fourth with the advantage the Knicks couldn’t afford to give away. Brunson sat early with four fouls. The Knicks struggled to find quality offense. The Spurs reached the bonus with 9:18 left, a gift in a one-possession Finals game.
Brunson checked back in with the Knicks down five, but San Antonio kept coming. Wembanyama appeared to push the Spurs’ lead to 10 with a 3-pointer from the top of the key while drawing a foul, but the call was overturned after review when officials ruled Keldon Johnson pushed Robinson into him. The Knicks got the ball back, down seven, with 7:46 left.
They never fully seized the opening. The Spurs led, 108-100, with 4:29 remaining, and the game that once looked like it might send the Knicks one win from a championship started moving the other way. A desperate rally in the closing minutes came up just short, and San Antonio took care of business at the line to close things out.
Game 3 didn’t end the Knicks’ control of this series, but it did remind them how quickly control can vanish in the Finals.
They still lead, 2-1. They still have another chance Wednesday at the Garden. But Monday was the missed chance, the one that could have pushed San Antonio to the edge and put the Knicks within one win of its first championship since 1973.
Instead, the Spurs gave the series a pulse.
The Knicks gave them the opening.
Continue reading...
