We have ourselves a series. Down 2-0 with their backs against the wall going into Madison Square Garden, the young Spurs came up with a huge 115-111 win in Game 3.
Plenty changed in the Spurs’ favor for them to take the series to 2-1 and give themselves a real chance to get back into these Finals. Victor Wembanyama, of course, led the way. San Antonio made a clear effort to increasingly get him the ball near the rim and throw up high passes for him to catch lobs, or simply rise above defenders for good
interior positioning and find easier chances to set up and finish. For the first time in the series, he attempted more layups and dunks than jumpers. Wemby was more impactful on defense too, and put together a dominant night with 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks.
Along with others like Julian Champagnie (12 points with three triples), Devin Vassell (11 points with 3-of-4 three-point shooting) and Stephon Castle (23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, plus his usual physical defense) remaining effective to round out the offense, the Spurs did what they needed to take care of business in Game 3.
Meanwhile for the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns continued to compete quite well on defense but quietened down offensively, scoring just 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting. If Wemby continues to thrive in the paint and outmatch Towns again in Game 4, that’ll be a big factor in the Spurs’ favor.
That wasn’t the only problem for the Knicks. Apart from issues like having a harder time containing Wemby inside, losing the free throw battle (22 attempts compared to the Spurs’ 32), and having 13 turnovers to the Spurs’ eight, Jalen Brunson struggled. Even though he led the Knicks in scoring again with 32 points and obviously remains the primary concern for San Antonio, Brunson finished Game 3 shooting a fairly cool 11-of-25 — taking him to just 39.0 percent shooting on two-pointers and 31.8 percent from three for the Finals so far. Along with over dribbling the ball, which helped cause the offense to stagnate on too many possessions, the Spurs were able to pull ahead of a Knicks offense that wasn’t at its best.
Brunson and others (Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet also had cold scoring nights on Monday) will need to bounce back and rediscover more fluid ball movement and varied offense to turn things around in Game 4.
So, what’s your Game 4 prediction? Do the Spurs tie things up at 2-2 and head back to San Antonio with a chance to take a series lead? Do the Knicks counter again with their own adjustments and a stronger showing from Brunson to go up 3-1? Let’s discuss in the comments and follow along with all the action.
Game Details
When: June 10, 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
Watch: ABC
Radio: ESPN Radio
Follow: @LibertyBallers
