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The home team of the NBA Finals remained winless in their building as the San Antonio Spurs took Game 3, 115-11, in much-needed fashion Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York still owns the series lead, 2-1, but the Spurs shut out thanks to tremendous 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 has been 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 three of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 8, 2026 in New York City. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
But it was Wembanyama’s teammates, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, who made clutch baskets to help the winning effort.
The Spurs came out with a clear determination to set the tone on the road, which is what all basketball fans should have expected given where the series stood at tip-off. San Antonio had 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 there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Knicks, it’s that they’ll make a comeback regardless of the deficit. And it happened again before the end of the half.
New York started to get their rhythm and used 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 made threes and five free throws.
Jalen Brunson also chipped in 15 points, while Josh Hart, left open on purpose by the Spurs, hit his three pointers 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 beginning of this game. They forced turnovers and capitalized, erasing their seven-point deficit almost immediately.
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks drives against Dylan Harper and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter of Game Three of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 8, 2026 in New York City. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Both teams traded buckets, with San Antonio taking a one-point lead into the fourth quarter of what was bound to be a heavyweight matchup in the “Mecca.”
This time, however, the Spurs were finally able to hold on to their lead in the fourth quarter as the Knicks quickly got into foul trouble and allowed San Antonio to get into the bonus right away. It was Wembanyama who capitalized on them while the Knicks were cold to start the quarter.
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San Antonio pushed the lead up to eight in the fourth quarter with 4:50 left to play after Wembanyama knocked in two more free throws, leading 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 and swing it along the arc. But the Spurs continued to close out, all to end 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 only held a four-point lead and Wembanyama passed the ball up with seconds left on the clock. With a good fight from the Knicks in Castle’s face, he buried a deep three-pointer on the wing to get the lead back to seven in a moment when 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 dagger-like 15-foot stepback jumper 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 of his own after a timeout to cut it 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 has been playing great bench minutes for San Antonio, also scored 13 on 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 land, where he’s thrived throughout these playoffs.
The Spurs pulled off the victory with President Donald Trump in attendance. He sat 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 will tip off from Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night at 8:30 PM ET.
