Knicks Drop Game 3 At Raucous Msg As Spurs Strike Back In Nba Finals

It’s almost hard to remember this feeling.

The Knicks faltered for the first time since April 23. Forty-five days of euphoria across New York City as the Knicks rode a remarkable 13-game winning streak.

But there would be no 46th day.

It’s been such a long time since the Knicks had a hiccup. Since they fell to an early deficit that they couldn’t overcome. Since they had to experience disappointment.

Since any sort of doubt has crept in, even if ever so slightly.

Madison Square Garden was an event even more exclusive than the Met Gala. The celebrity list — including President Trump — was so long it was almost comical. It was on the verge of fully erupting like so many had envisioned. It had the potential to be a party the likes of which the arena and city have rarely ever seen.

But the Spurs came in and spoiled the fun. The Garden Party will have to wait at least two more days, as the Knicks fell 115-111 Monday night and saw their Finals lead cut to 2-1. The road team has won all three games of the series.

“We’ve done our best to try to learn from wins over the past couple weeks,” Jalen Brunson said. “But now we have to learn from a loss.”

Brunson’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to three points with 33.7 seconds left. The possibility for more late-game magic was there.

De’Aaron Fox responded with a bucket to put the Spurs back up five, however. OG Anunoby’s subsequent 3-pointer made it a two-point deficit with 9.4 seconds left, but Stephon Castle, after the Knicks fouled him, hit both free throws to restore the Spurs’ two-possession lead.

That was that.

In truth, the Knicks deserved to lose. They outscored the Spurs by 18 in a record-breaking second quarter (their 42 points were the most they’ve ever scored in a quarter in the Finals), but across the other three quarters were outscored by 22 points. Their perimeter defense was too loose. They had too many turnovers, many of which were unforced. Their offense grew stagnant.

It was the most points they’ve given up this postseason.

“We weren’t as connected as we normally are,” Anunoby said. “We had some mental mishaps and allowed some easy buckets.”

Victor Wembanyama finally had his Finals coming-out party. He had 32 points along with eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks. He finished off a few alley-oops in which he used his 7-foot-4 frame and simply skied over Knicks defenders. He clearly made it a point to operate in the paint more than he had in the first two games of the series, and it worked. He owned his matchup with Karl-Anthony Towns.

Brunson got almost no help in the fourth quarter outside of Anunoby — they had a combined 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting in the period, but their teammates combined to score two points and shoot 1-for-16. Brunson finished with 32 points on 11-for-25 shooting.

The Spurs were incredibly physical with him. They took a couple of blatant cheap shots — Wembanyama got away with shoving Brunson by his head in the first quarter. Later in the first half, Carter Bryant and Castle both lined him up and trucked him while going for rebounds.

And it actually appeared to get under Brunson’s skin. He was more visibly angry than he almost ever is. After Wembanyama’s shove, Brunson got in his face and jawed at him while the play was still going on. It felt like Brunson was forcing it a bit on the offensive end as a result, resulting in some of his supporting cast being uninvolved. He got into foul trouble himself. He committed five turnovers.

Coach Mike Brown, more emotional than usual, went out of his way to rail against the officiating for, in his words, not calling that physicality evenly.

“I never thought I’d see that in an NBA Finals game, and I saw it tonight,” Brown said. “That’s tough to overcome when you’re playing against a great team.”

Towns, after his magnificent first two games of the series, had just 11 points and did not score in the fourth quarter, missing all four shots he took. Mikal Bridges was invisible, offensively at least, with just two points on 1-for-5 shooting. He did not score his first — and only — points until the very end of the third quarter.

Anunoby was the only non-Brunson scorer who made a real impact, chipping in 28 points.

“You knew they were going to come out with a sense of urgency and a sense of desperation,” Towns said. “We should have started the game off better. We should have started the third quarter off better. So, you know, back to 0-0.”

For so long, it felt like the Knicks simply forgot how to lose. For so long, it felt like nights like this might never happen again.

But now, we have a series. Now, we wait and see how these Knicks respond.