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The home team in the NBA Finals remained winless in their home building, as the San Antonio Spurs won Game 3, 115-11, in well-deserved fashion Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York still holds the lead, 2-1, in the series, but the Spurs closed out with terrific defense, timely buckets and forced the Knicks to go 2 of 12 from three-point territory in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Knicks’ 13-game playoff winning streak was snapped.
Victor Wembanyama, who had a chance to win Game 2 but missed his final 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 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 8, 2026. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
But it was Wembanyama’s teammates, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, who made the clutch baskets to assist the winning effort.
The Spurs are clearly determined to set the tone on the road, and that’s what every basketball fan should have expected given where the series was at the start. San Antonio owned an 11-point lead after the first quarter, as Wembanyama scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Castle was a perfect 3-of-3 for seven points.
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But if we’ve learned anything about the Knicks, they’ll make a comeback regardless of the deficit. And it happened again before the end of the half.
New York began to hit its stride, using the packed house at Madison Square Garden to its advantage. They finished the half with a seven-point lead, 64-57, as OG Anunoby dropped 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including two threes and five free throws.
Jalen Brunson also scored 15 points, while Josh Hart, intentionally left wide open by the Spurs, hit his three-pointer for 13 points.
The Knicks had all the momentum heading into the second half, but the Spurs started the same way they did at the start of this game. They forced turnovers and took advantage, erasing their seven-point deficit almost immediately.
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks works against Dylan Harper and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs during the third quarter of Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 8, 2026. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Both teams traded baskets, with San Antonio taking a one-point lead into the fourth quarter that was expected to be a heavyweight fight in “The Mecca.”
This time, however, the Spurs were finally able to maintain their lead in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks quickly ran into trouble and allowed San Antonio to advance immediately to the bonus. It was Wembanyama who took advantage, while the Knicks were cold to start the quarter.
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San Antonio took the lead to eight in the fourth quarter with 4:50 left after Wembanyama made two more free throws, leading to key defensive plays for the Spurs. The epitome of this was the Knicks trying to move the ball for a three-point attempt, swinging it along the arc. But the Spurs continued to close out, ending with Wembanyama knocking away Landry Shamet’s layup attempt.
The first clutch basket the Spurs hit came from Castle with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter. San Antonio had just a four-point lead and Wembanyama overshot the ball with seconds left in the shot clock. With the Knicks fighting well against Castle, he hit a deep three-pointer on the wing to cut the lead to seven in a moment where the Knicks had momentum.
Then, after Brunson drained the Knicks’ first three-pointer of the quarter to cut the deficit to three, Fox drained a 15-foot step-back 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 following a timeout to cut it to two with 9.4 to play. 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 on June 8, 2026. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
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Ultimately, 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 huge bench minutes for San Antonio, also scored 13 on 18 shot attempts.
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 land where he has thrived throughout these playoffs.
The Spurs were victorious in the presence of President Donald Trump. He was sitting with Knicks owner James Dolan in a suite. The president’s presence led to increased security around the arena throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals kicks off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
