NEW YORK : Victor Wembanyama scored 32 points and added eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the New York Knicks 115-111 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday, trimming their deficit in the best-of-seven championship series to 2-1.
Stephon Castle contributed 23 points, including 18 in the first half and five crucial points late in the fourth quarter, as the Spurs avoided falling into a 3-0 series hole, a deficit no team has overcome in NBA playoff history.
“I feel like we still haven’t really done anything,” Castle said. “Obviously we’re still down 2-1 and we’re looking forward to the next 48 minutes.
“Obviously it feels good to win, especially on the road after dropping two bad ones. But I think our confidence has been the same throughout this series regardless of what happens.”
Dylan Harper scored 13 points off the bench, while Julian Champagnie, De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell added 12, 12 and 11 points, respectively. Fox also handed out eight assists.
Jalen Brunson led New York with 32 points on 11-for-25 shooting, while OG Anunoby added 28 points on an efficient 9-for-13 from the field. Josh Hart scored 16 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 11 and reserve Jordan Clarkson chipped in 10.
The loss ended the Knicks’ 13-game playoff winning streak, the second-longest postseason run in NBA history behind the Golden State Warriors’ 15-game streak during their 2017 title-winning campaign.
“I tell the guys, it’s a seven-game series for a reason,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “They are a great team. They are well-coached. They have an iconic player. It’s not going to be easy.”
San Antonio showed resilience after surrendering double-digit leads in each of the first two games. The Spurs squandered a 12-point first-half advantage and trailed 64-57 at halftime, but responded strongly after the break.
Champagnie scored the opening six points of the third quarter as the Spurs shot 50% from the field in the period and forced four turnovers. Wembanyama’s three-pointer with 5:02 remaining in the quarter gave San Antonio a 79-76 lead, and the Spurs never trailed again.
“I thought we showed better poise at times,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I thought we finished the game still with some things that need improvement, but stronger than we did the last few games.”
Hart acknowledged the urgency shown by San Antonio.
“You knew they were going to come out with a sense of urgency and a sense of desperation,” Hart said. “We should have started the game off better. We should have started the third quarter off better.”
The teams struggled offensively in the fourth quarter, combining to shoot 13-for-48. San Antonio maintained at least a two-possession lead for most of the period before Brunson and Anunoby connected on back-to-back three-pointers in the final 34 seconds to cut the deficit to 113-111.
After a timeout, Castle made two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to restore a four-point cushion and effectively seal the victory.
The Spurs went 20-for-24 from the free-throw line in the second half, compared with 6-for-8 for the Knicks, a disparity Brown highlighted after the game.
“Coach Mitch Johnson and the Spurs, they won the game tonight — they came and took the game,” Brown said. “But I will say this: I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight.”
Game 4 will be played on Wednesday in New York.
