It seems like these two teams are destined to go back and forth. After the Knicks took both games on the road, the NBA Finals moved to the mecca of sports, Madison Square Garden. With New York in a commanding 2-0 series lead, it was do or die for the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama. Not only did they answer the call, but they also stepped up their game when it was needed most. Let’s dive into Game 3!
Spurs Deliver First Punch
With all the pressure on the young San Antonio team, it was important to see how they would answer the opening few minutes, with MSG rocking. The Spurs’ youth would silence the home rowdy crowd with a flurry of threes, and shooting 60.9% from the floor would keep the Knicks at arm’s length for the majority of the quarter. Area 51, the dynamic duo of Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, were excellent in the opening frame with 16 of the team’s 33 points.
The Knicks would answer back with a punch of their own in the second quarter. After trailing by 12, New York would go on a 14-4 run to close the gap to within a basket, 40-38, within the first four minutes of the frame. That wasn’t even the most impressive run the team went on. Led by Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson, the Knicks went on a 14-3 run to close the quarter and take a 64-57 halftime lead.
Through the first two games of the NBA Finals, whenever the Spurs would jump to a 10-point lead, the San Antonio faithful would flip a coin and hold their breath. Double-digit leads haven’t been safe for any team in this series. With both teams taking 10+ point leads in the first two games, but both games coming down to the wire, it was only a matter of time until the Spurs made a push of their own.
Knicks’ Second Half Struggles
After coming out of halftime with a seven-point lead, the Knicks started the second half with back-to-back turnovers, which gave San Antonio the momentum they had to begin the game. New York’s superstar, Jalen Brunson, was just as subpar in the third quarter as he was in the previous frame, where he brought the Knicks back. JB shot a horrendous 2/7 from the floor, turned the ball over three times, and had three fouls that took him off the floor for a chunk of his usual rotation.
It also didn’t help that New York was being called for an unusually high number of fouls. In the third quarter alone, they were called for seven personal fouls and eight in the fourth quarter. To put that into reference, the Knicks tallied eight PFs TOTAL. Head coach Mike Brown was quoted after the game regarding officiating by saying, “That’s the question I had with them is, you’re right. Maybe we did foul. But they fouled, too.”
The Spurs outshot the Knicks 14-3 from the foul line in the 3rd quarter, and 24-8 in the second half. Was that the sole reason that they had lost? Absolutely not, however, it certainly doesn’t help when it appears both teams are playing extremely physical and only one is getting penalized for potentially fouling. It also doesn’t help when you lose the turnover margin 13-8 and get outscored 21-7 in points off turnovers.
Who Wins Game 4?
I don’t expect the Knicks to come out flat-footed at home again. What is interesting is that Karl-Anthony Towns hasn’t scored a single point in the 4th quarter in these Finals. In the last game, New York appeared to revert to a Brunson-centric offense late in games. Now that was due to the Spurs guarding him one-on-one and saying, “beat us if you can.” I think this is the game where KAT leaves his mark down the stretch.
On the side of the Spurs, Wemby was great in all four quarters in Game 3. He began the game looking to dominate inside, and he did. Out of the 18 shots he took, 14 of them were in the paint. That’s what the basketball media has asked him to play and look like, the dominant offensive presence we know he can be. San Antonio has played Brunson excellently in these Finals, which is a testament to their excellent perimeter defenders, holding him to just 37% from the floor and 13 turnovers to 13 assists.
I believe the Knicks will win tonight and take a 3-1 stranglehold on the NBA Finals tonight. We’ve seen many teams down 0-2 play with an extra edge in Game 3’s, and that’s what it was Monday night. A desperate team that threw the kitchen sink at an opponent that was riding high. I don’t expect the Knicks to play back-to-back poor games, and that’s the biggest reason they will win tonight. A regression to the mean.
Final Thoughts
Game 4 will tip off tonight around 8:30 tonight on ABC. With this being another do-or-die game for the Spurs, it will be hard-fought and, like the three prior games, come down to the wire. What did you make of Game 3? Will the Spurs even up the series tonight, or will the Knicks take a commanding 3-1 lead?
As always, thank you so much for checking out my recap on Game 3 of the NBA Finals and thoughts on whether the Knicks are in trouble after last night’s loss! Be sure to check out our other amazing content here at New Leaf News! Thank you for making us part of your day, and look forward to seeing you again soon.
