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The home team in the NBA Finals remains winless in its home stretch, as the San Antonio Spurs took Game 3, 115-11, in much-needed fashion Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York still owns a 2-1 lead in the series, but the Spurs shut it down thanks to great defense, timely buckets, and forcing the Knicks to go 2-of-12 from three-point range in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Knicks’ 13-game playoff streak was cut short.
Victor Wembanyama, who had a chance to win Game 2 but missed his last shot, finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Spurs.
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Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the second quarter against the New York Knicks in Game Three of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 8, 2026. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
But it was Wembanyama’s teammates, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle who put in the go-ahead baskets, to help the winning effort.
The Spurs came out with a clear determination to set the tone on the road, and that’s what all basketball fans should be hoping for given where the series stands as of now. San Antonio had an 11-point lead after the first quarter, as Wembanyama scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Castle was 3-of-3 for seven points.
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But if we’ve learned anything about the Knicks, it’s that they will come back no matter how short. And it happened again before the end of the episode.
New York began to find a rhythm, using the sold-out home crowd at Madison Square Garden to their advantage. They closed the half with a seven-point lead, 64-57, as OG Anunoby dropped 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including two three-pointers and five free throws.
Jalen Brunson also poured in 15 points, and Josh Hart, who was intentionally left open by the Spurs, hit his three-pointer with 13 points.
The Knicks had all the momentum going into the second half, but the Spurs started the same way at the beginning of this game. They forced a turnover and took the money, erasing their seven-point deficit almost immediately.
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks works with Dylan Harper and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs during the third quarter of Game Three of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 8, 2026. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Both teams traded buckets, with San Antonio leading by one point in the fourth quarter of what should have been a tough battle at “The Mecca.”
However, this time, the Spurs were finally able to hold on to their fourth quarter lead, as the Knicks quickly got into foul trouble and allowed San Antonio to get into the bonus early. It was Wembanyama who took advantage of those, and the Knicks went cold at the start of the quarter.
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San Antonio got the lead up to eight with 4:50 left in the fourth quarter after Wembanyama hit two more free throws, and that led to some key defensive plays for the Spurs. The epitome of that was the Knicks trying to move the ball around for a three-point attempt, driving around the arc. But the Spurs continued to close, and it all ended with Wembanyama knocking down Landry Shamet’s efforts.
The first clutch basket by the Spurs came from Castle with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter. San Antonio held just four points and Wembanyama passed the ball with seconds left on the shot clock. With the Knicks’ good competition in the face of Castle, he buried a three-pointer deep in the wing to get a goal back to seven in a second when the Knicks had momentum.
Then, after Brunson hit the Knicks’ first three-pointer of the quarter to cut the deficit to three, Fox pulled up a 15-foot jumper that looked like a dagger with 12.2 left in the game.
Anunoby, who finished with 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting, kept the Knicks’ hopes alive with a three-pointer following a timeout to cut the lead to two with 9.4 left. But Castle buried both free throws in a much-needed situation to close the door on New York.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks defends Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs during the second quarter of Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 8, 2026. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
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In the end, Castle finished with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting with five rebounds and five assists, while every Spurs starter finished the game with double-digit points. Dylan Harper, who played some nice minutes off the bench for San Antonio, also made 13 of 18 shots.
For the Knicks, one stat line that stands out is Shamet’s 1-of-8 from the field, including 1-of-7 from three-point range where he’s been successful throughout these contests.
The Spurs pulled off a win with President Donald Trump. He was sitting with Knicks owner James Dolan in the suite. The presence of the president led to the strengthening of security in the entire stadium from the afternoon until the evening.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals will tip off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night at 8:30 pm ET.
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