San Antonio Spurs spoil New York’s NBA Finals homecoming as Victor Wembanyama inspires Game 3 victory over Knicks in front of Trump
Madison Square Garden had been dreaming of a party. The San Antonio Spurs had other plans.
In front of a sell-out crowd that expected to watch their team march to the brink of a first championship in fifty years, the Spurs delivered when it mattered most.
San Antonio put in one of the great road performances in recent Finals memory – stunning the Knicks, silencing the Garden and sending New York’s celebrations firmly back to the drawing board.
The Spurs drew first blood, racing into a 33-22 lead after the first quarter with French superstar Victor Wembanyama immediately imposing himself on proceedings.
But New York hit back – spectacularly. A 42-24 second quarter, driven by Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby flipped the scoreboard and had MSG believing again.
The Knicks led 64-57 at half-time. The party, briefly, was back on.
The Spurs, though, are not a team that folds. Not with Wembanyama. Not with Stephon Castle. Not with De’Aaron Fox lurking.
The third quarter was San Antonio at their very best. Wembanyama, quietened in the second, came roaring back and led from the front as the Spurs took control.
Castle was equally devastating during a 35-27 Spurs third period that flipped the lead back to San Antonio. Heading into the final quarter, the Spurs led 92-91 – one point between these teams and an entire city holding its breath.
The fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Spurs. Where New York needed heroes, San Antonio found composure – and Wembanyama was immovable.
He finished the game with 32 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, commanding the paint as if MSG were his own building.
Castle, meanwhile, finished with 23 points and five assists, making the right play at every critical juncture. The Spurs outscored the Knicks 23-20 in the final period.
Brunson gave absolutely everything for New York. His 32-point, five-assist performance was the kind that deserves to be on the winning side, a warrior’s display that kept the Knicks in it deep into the fourth.
Anunoby was equally brilliant with 28 points, the pair of them refusing to let their team go without the most almighty fight. But against a Spurs side of this quality, playing with this level of poise, it ultimately was not enough.
And as for President Trump, who had been loudly booed by the MSG crowd during the national anthem, sat in a suite with New York owner James Dolan to watch the Knicks fall to a team his hometown side should, on paper, have been putting away.
The series now shifts to San Antonio for Game 4 on Wednesday. The Knicks still hold the advantage, and history remains firmly on New York’s side.
But the Spurs just reminded everyone – the Knicks included – that Wembanyama and company are a long way from done.
New York came here tonight expecting a party. San Antonio just gatecrashed it.
