NEW YORK, NY — The energy surrounding Madison Square Garden on Monday night felt like a championship celebration before a champion had even been crowned as the NBA Finals returned to “The World’s Most Famous Arena” for the first time since 1999.
Fans packing the streets of New York City hours before tipoff. Security checkpoints stretched for blocks. And it was all for President Donald Trump who became the first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game, prompting unprecedented security measures around Midtown Manhattan and forcing several Knicks watch parties to be relocated away from The Garden.
Yet despite the disruptions, the New York City faithful showed up. The crowd represented everything that makes the city unique—every borough, every culture and every background united behind the Knicks.
One viral fan summed up the city’s identity perfectly before tipoff:
“My mayor is Muslim, my bagel is Jewish, and my Christian is Dior. Knicks in 4.”
Inside Madison Square Garden, however, the celebration quickly turned into a lesson in urgency.
Behind 32 points from Victor Wembanyama and 23 more from young star Stephon Castle, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Knicks, 115-111, in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, snapping New York’s 13-game playoff winning streak and handing the franchise its first loss since April 23.
The victory for San Antonio cut New York’s series lead down to 2-1. Wembanyama delivered one of the greatest Finals performances ever by a player his age, finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals.
At 22 years old, he became the youngest player since Magic Johnson to record at least 30 points in an NBA Finals game.
Castle, whose family roots trace back to Far Rockaway, Queens, looked completely unfazed by the moment. The second-year guard out of UConn repeatedly attacked the paint and finished with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Together, Wembanyama and Castle became the first pair of teammates aged 22 or younger to score 20 points each in an NBA Finals game.
The Spurs controlled the opening quarter as New York committed a string of careless mistakes, turning the ball over four times within the first few minutes quickly falling behind the Spurs 19-9.
“We should’ve started the game off better,” Josh Hart said afterward. “We should’ve started the third quarter off better. They were down 2-0. You knew they were going to come out with a sense of urgency and a sense of desperation.”
José Alvarado changed the pace of the game off the bench, while OG Anunoby delivered one of his best postseason performances, scoring 28 points on 9-for-13 shooting which helped fuel a second-quarter surge that erased a 12-point deficit.
The Knicks closed the first half on a 14-3 run and carried a 64-57 lead into the locker room. But many of the same problems that plagued New York early resurfaced after halftime.
The Knicks opened the third quarter with back-to-back turnovers and struggled to regain offensive rhythm. Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points, but foul trouble and increased defensive pressure limited his effectiveness late.
“We were pretty stagnant,” Brunson said. “The little things, the attention to detail, the stuff that we pride ourselves on, we didn’t do it tonight.”
The game also featured several controversial whistles in the second half that left both the crowd and Knicks coaching staff frustrated with San Antonio attempting 24 free throws after halftime compared to just eight for New York.
Mike Brown did not hide his frustration, airing in the postgame, “I never thought I’d be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight. Maybe we were fouling. But they were fouling, too.”
Still, Brown made clear officiating was not the only reason for the loss.
“Offensively, we were about as stagnant as I’ve seen us all year, which helped with the 13 turnovers,” he noted. “The turnover situation, the free throw situation and our attention to detail … not good tonight.”
Karl-Anthony Towns agreed when asked about officiating, stating, “That ain’t cost us the game. Turned the ball over. Didn’t execute. Didn’t do what got us 13 straight wins in a row.”
Ultimately, the numbers supported that assessment.
The Knicks committed 13 turnovers that led directly to 21 Spurs points while generating only seven points off San Antonio’s eight turnovers. Despite finishing with 32 points, five rebounds and five assists, Brunson was among the first to acknowledge the Knicks’ offensive issues after the game.
“I think we turned the ball over a lot, first and foremost,” he said. “With our live-ball turnovers, they got them out in transition. They were capitalizing off those.”
Brunon’s five turnovers matched a season-high for this playoff run and played a major role in San Antonio converting New York’s 13 giveaways into 21 points. As the final seconds expired, the historic night New York had hoped for did not appear yet with that, the Knicks still stand two wins away from a championship.
The atmosphere in MSG Monday night lived up to every expectation.
Now the Knicks must ensure their execution does the same Wednesday evening in Game 4 at The Garden.
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