Despite a deafening scene at Madison Square Garden, the San Antonio Spurs took down the New York Knicks 115-111 in Game 3 on Monday.
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With their backs against the wall down 0-2, the Spurs came out with a purpose in the first quarter. Victor Wembanyama had nine points and two blocks in the opening quarter as San Antonio held the Knicks to just 22 points.
On the other end, the Spurs shot just under 61% from the floor as they put up 33 points in the opening quarter.
The second quarter could not have been any more different than the first. While the Spurs cooled off dramatically on offense, the Knicks had the highest-scoring quarter in their Finals history.
As O.G. Anunoby led the way, New York knocked down 14 of their 19 second-quarter shots to pour in 24 points. MSG was as loud as ever while the Knicks shifted the momentum.
After taking their first lead of the night, the Knicks led by seven.
While the Spurs didn’t respond as strongly as the Knicks, they made effective halftime adjustments. Dylan Harper and Wembanyama each put up seven points in the third quarter as the physicality of the game subsided slightly.
As foul calls became more common, the game slowed down and allowed the Spurs to retake control. San Antonio had gone up by one.
Wembanyama maintained a strong pace early in the fourth as San Antonio pulled ahead by seven. The pace of the game was at its slowest in the fourth quarter as the weight of every possession felt tremendous.
A back-and-forth period allowed the Spurs to remain ahead by eight with just under five minutes to go. A usually hot Knicks offense remained cold as time ticked away.
MSG sounded increasingly anxious as the Spurs held on to a four-point lead with two minutes to play.
Stephon Castle came through with a huge three-pointer to beat the shot clock and go up by seven and the Knicks failed to score in response.
After Anunoby cut it to five with a pair of free throws, Brunson knocked down a huge three to make it a three-point game.
With just 12 seconds to go, De’Aaron Fox hit the biggest shot of the game with a midrange pull-up jumper to go up by five.
That’s when Anunoby sank his own ridiculous three from the corner to cut the lead down to two, but the Spurs had possession with nine seconds to go.
Castle then stepped to the line and sank two big free throws after a quick foul, taking a four-point lead and sealing the victory.
Wembanyama led the way for the Spurs with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
For New York, Brunson had 32 points, five rebounds and five assists.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
