Spurs Dominate Knicks in Game 3

The Knicks faced a rather unsettling atmosphere as the game kicked off.

The Spurs quickly targeted Victor Wembanyama, and it resulted in a couple of powerful dunks.

With Wembanyama and Stephon Castle leading the charge, San Antonio delivered a strong performance inside. The Knicks, despite their impressive defensive record this postseason, struggled significantly on Monday night.

A close 115-111 loss at the iconic Madison Square Garden didn’t dampen the spirits of the Spurs’ youthful squad.

“We weren’t as connected as we should’ve been,” stated OG Anunoby after the game. The Knicks allowed an uncharacteristic number of points, the highest in 17 playoff games this season. “We made some mental errors, gave up easy baskets, and our transition defense wasn’t up to par.”

Essentially, it was a lot of things not going right.

In the previous two games, the Spurs averaged 14.5 turnovers but managed to significantly reduce that to just eight in Game 3. Fewer mistakes led to more ball possession and they capitalized on it.

Yet, the main issue was the defense in the paint. Wembanyama and Castle dominated, scoring 55 points on 19 of 32 shooting. They outmuscled the Knicks under the basket, netting 44 points there and attempting 32 free throws.

Knicks coach Mike Brown acknowledged San Antonio’s performance, saying, “I give a lot of credit to their staff and players. They executed repeatedly, while we missed too many crucial details.” His frustration centered on how they hadn’t held themselves accountable on defense.

The Spurs hit 35 percent of their three-point attempts, making some critical shots, but that wasn’t where Brown felt the real issue lay.

“We let them penetrate the paint too easily and just didn’t focus on what we needed to do defensively,” he noted.