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New York — Game 3 of the NBA Finals ended in a thriller, with both teams experiencing highs and lows. The Spurs beat the Knicks 115-111. The Knicks still lead the series, 2-1.

Wemby leads the way in scoring, with him having 32 points to help lead the Spurs to victory. The Spurs also snapped the Knicks’ playoff-winning streak, which had reached 13 straight wins. They were dominant during that streak, posting a +273-point differential, which is the most in playoff history.

Takeaways

Knicks: Another slow start, but once again they recovered with a bounce back in that 2nd quarter, which they’ve done in these past three games of these finals. Then the game slowed down for the Knicks due to fouls and foul reviews. As a team, in that fourth outside of Brunson and OG, no one was hitting their shots from three; the same was true for the Spurs, who went 11% as a team.

Jalen Brunson dropped 32 points in the loss, but he came alive in the fourth quarter to put his team in a position to win. He didn’t look bad in this game, but there were moments when he was holding the ball for too long past the 4-second mark, and he was forced to take a bad shot, and as a team, they had to revert to playing hero ball, which worked in the regular season but not in the playoffs. In that fourth quarter, he didn’t have help from his teammates either; only OG made an impact on the scoreboard. Also, fouls plagued him. The Spurs figured out that attacking a guy who can’t defend is easy to get that person into foul trouble.

KAT was not effective in the game as he was in the other. He had 11 points and 8 rebounds, and he was again in foul trouble, picking up his fourth in the early fourth quarter. In that fourth quarter, he didn’t even score a point.

They wasted a Josh Hart game where he had 16 points on 60% shooting and 57% from three. Hart was everywhere; he had 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Another player whose performance went to waste is Jordan Clarkson, who had 10 points on 57% from the field and 2-2 from three.

Mikal struggled in this game, scoring only 2 points in 28 minutes and committing 4 personal fouls. He hasn’t been good offensively in these playoffs. In the past two playoff series, he scored a total of 235, which isn’t bad, but the year before, he had 280 total points in three series.

As a team, they struggled in the fourth quarter; they got into foul trouble two minutes in. Then they reverted to having Jalen Brunson dribble the ball for 18 total seconds, just for him to miss or make, because no one else could score. Late game, they played sloppily and just couldn’t find any momentum, but they did find something with the last two minutes with the OG three-pointer to make it a two-point game, but that was it. It felt like they were scared to even take three pointers throughout the game, but no one could hit any of them in that fourth.

Spurs: Great start to the game as they’ve been doing in that series, but lost the remaining two quarters, letting the Knicks go on runs. They figured out that lobbing the ball to their 7-footer, an alien named Wemby, works. In that second half, this team was something to watch, getting the Knicks into foul trouble early and playing defense.

Wemby wasn’t subpar in the game; he was fantastic, and he wasn’t afraid to attack the paint or even just shoot the ball in general. He got the better of KAT in the game when the Knicks had to bring in Mitchell Robinson, who didn’t play badly against Wemby.

Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper were big help in the game and capitalized on Wembys’ performance with their scoring. Castle had 22 points and came up clutch to put the game away with his free throws at the end, and hit some big threes. The only negative was his fouling. Harper, coming off the bench once again, is not afraid of this big moment. Scoring-wise, he was inefficient, scoring 13 points on 27%, but he was impactful on the boards, totaling 9 rebounds.

The Spurs also got meaningful scoring minutes from Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell. Julian had 12 points on 44% shooting. Vassell had 11 points on 75% on three, which were the only shots he attempted in the game.

De’Aaron Fox was the least desirable with his scoring, as he only scored 12 points with the ball on 28% from the field. He did make up for that poor shooting with 8 assists. He was making the right passes at the right minute to find his teammates.  

This victory for the Spurs was a much-needed one; if they had lost, it would’ve been 3-0, making the climb to win the series tough. They had a poor second quarter but came out in the second half, not giving up and slowly climbing back into the game, with Wemby and Castle leading the way.

Look ahead

Knicks: Mike Brown needs to get everyone back on track by returning to the defensive style they played in the first two games. He needs to discipline his team for getting into foul trouble early in the game, even if you think the calls were soft calls, but they still got caught. Making Jalen Brunson play hero ball in that fourth worked, but also limited others by having him hold the ball for 17 or 18 seconds.

They can’t waste another opportunity that they did when Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson had scoring the ball in the last game into Game 4. If they get another one of those in Game 4 from either Hart, Clarkson, or even another player, you can’t waste it.

Mikal Bridges, who had a good game in Game 2, can’t be ineffective in the rest of these games. Offensively, he’s shown to have an impact like OG has been having offensively for the Knicks. He will need to find his shot for the next one.

One adjustment they can make is to attack Fox the way the Spurs attacked Brunson in the last game. Fox isn’t a 100% and won’t be for the rest of the series, so force a switch onto him when he’s on the floor. It’s going to be hard for him to defend with that ankle injury.

Spurs: The Spurs need to keep the same game plan they had in Game 3. Not much to change except to switch roles between Fox and Harper. Switching Fox and Harper can give Fox more rest on the bench, since he’s not 100%. Harper’s confidence attacking and rebounding are impactful, and if he doesn’t look good in those minutes, then go back to making him run with the bench.

Wemby will need to deliver a stellar performance again in Game 4, and for this series. He will need to put up efficient shooting numbers and score 30-plus points in however many games remain. He can’t get frustrated. I understand that the Knicks have been physical, but also so have the Spurs. You got lucky that you weren’t thrown out after that Brunson incident and got away with it. No more losing your cool after feeling like you should get every call, given how physical you’ve been played.

Another hero will have to step up. I don’t know who it will be, but one person I would choose is Keldon Johnson, a guy who needs to step up big time. He didn’t have a great Game 3, but was serviceable late defense-wise. In this game, he will need to be better on offense.

This team showed us they can beat the offensive juggernaut the Knicks have been throughout these playoffs. They just need to keep their composure on both sides of the ball, with good ball-handling, and get players who are known to get into foul trouble into foul trouble. If they can build on that second performance on both sides of the ball in Game 4, they will force a Game 6.

Predictions

With Game 4 being a game both teams need to win, I feel like there’s more urgency for the Knicks to avoid losing on home court again. The Spurs need the win, but they shouldn’t, in my opinion, come into this game with a sense of danger; they’re guaranteed another game in San Antonio. So all the pressure is on the Knicks in these next two games to get it done.

With that, I predict that the New York Knicks will win Game 4, 123-110. Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama battle it out, with Brunson having 32 points to Wemby’s 33. The Spurs falling short in the fourth, giving up easy buckets to the Knicks.

Game 4 of the NBA Finals is on June 10th at 7:30 pm CT at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY. You can watch it on ABC/ESPN.