Knicks stumble, Spurs survive and Trump becomes part of NBA Finals history

If the Knicks lose these Finals, if they end up becoming the first team to squander a 2-0 lead (the kind that was enough for the 1993 Bulls and the 1995 Rockets) in the fight for a championship, this third game will be remembered as the turning point, the near match point (the chance to go up 3-0, essentially checkmate) that disappeared into the void. If that happens, and because nights like this in American sports tend to acquire names of their own, this will probably be known forever as the Donald Trump Game. Another stone added to the wall of lamentations that has been the Knicks’ history since they won their last title in 1973. For now, that is only speculation, a pure conditional. But one thing is certain: the Spurs struck back on the road after taking two seemingly fatal blows at home. Tomorrow brings Game 4, once again at Madison Square Garden. A moment when nervous systems, emotional states and, with the Finals now deep into their decisive phase, fuel tanks will all be tested.

The championship series arrived at Madison Square Garden for the first time this century, the first time since June 5, 1999, when the Spurs – an emerging dynasty – narrowly won both the game and the title, 78-77. With the city buzzing, fans filling the streets and a blue-and-orange tide rising happily on the back of the Knicks’ historic 13-game playoff winning streak (still two short of the Warriors’ 15 in 2017), the hours between Game 2, the euphoria, and the start of Game 3 – supposedly a jungle-like frenzy inside the Garden – turned out to be as anticlimactic as possible.

Such are the times we live in, a kind of capsule designed to squeeze the fun out of everything. First, because hyper-capitalism works the way it does and anyone who dislikes it is told where to go: endless chatter about impossible ticket prices. These events simply are no longer for ordinary people, and so they can no longer be what they once were. They will remain part of collective memory, but in a different way. A red line – growing less thin by the day – separates communities in service of stratification and selfies. Then, of course, because James Dolan, who had gone too long without stepping out of line, decided that the return of the Finals to Madison after 27 years was the perfect excuse to turn a day generations had been waiting for into Donald Trump Day. Not, after all, a day for Knicks fans.

The area around the arena was militarized. Entry conditions became stricter. Even players’ routines were altered, while events and parties around the venue were canceled. All because Dolan, a franchise owner loathed for decades, decided this was the day to invite Donald Trump into his suite. A day of tribute tailored to the taste of the POTUS, and likely not free of business considerations. The result was a dampened atmosphere, a strange mood and, during the national anthem, loud boos directed at the first U.S. president ever to attend an NBA Finals game in person. Later, he even appeared to nod off in his seat.

The heightened security further distanced fans, including those who could not afford more than $10,000 for an ordinary ticket but had planned to gather around the arena. However much anyone wants to believe it mattered, Madison felt far colder than usual, certainly far colder than expected. And the Knicks lost. But Dolan enjoyed himself in the suite with Trump.

Too many Knicks mistakes

Of course, the Knicks did not lose because of that. They lacked discipline, consistency and the flow that had made them impossible to beat. They bled possessions through a carousel of turnovers, many of them embarrassing, and never corrected the problem. They looked nervous, unsettled by the magnitude of the moment and, worst of all, unable to capitalize on extra chances – the hallmark of the 13-game winning streak that has now ended and forces them to reset before tomorrow’s game. Too many unforced errors, if this were tennis. Too many unnecessary risks, including some from Mike Brown in his rotations, perhaps because everything had worked until now. Too many slips when they could have torn open the Spurs’ wounds, still fresh and now, perhaps, beginning to heal.

The game was tense, at times dramatic, the first Finals since 2015 in which each of the first three games was decided by 10 points or fewer. It was physical, disjointed and constantly interrupted. Poor officiating turned the second half into a swamp that favored the Spurs, who needed anything that could help their cause. With nothing to lose, they pushed to discover where the limits were for each team and identified inconsistencies they exploited through an extreme defensive approach. Another battle has now emerged, one Mike Brown addressed immediately afterward.

“I never thought I’d see a Finals game where one team gets 24 free throws and the other gets eight in the second half. If that’s how it’s going to be, I think our chances drop dramatically. If we committed all those fouls... then so did they.”

On the other side, the Spurs have little to complain about. When opportunity appeared, they seized it with the determination that had been missing last week. If it had to come through an unpleasant parade of free throws, so be it. Everything helps when the only plan is to climb out of the grave and survival is the only storyline. In that regard, the Texans were magnificent. The Knicks had not lost since April 23, were playing at home and seemed to hold the psychological edge in the series. Now, at the very least, they look mortal again. They bleed. And if it bleeds, it can be killed. Or so Dutch Schaefer said in Predator.

More than anything, the Spurs did everything necessary to escape. Including the toughness they had lacked in the previous two finishes. They did not flinch, despite painful memories, when they needed a couple of heroic plays against a team that seemed to have endless lives. Stephon Castle, hardly the most reliable shooter, hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to make it 108-104, then calmly sank the decisive free throws with seven seconds left for a 115-111 lead. Between those moments, De’Aaron Fox, whose game threatened to slip away from him, delivered a cold-blooded basket for a 111-108 advantage. Because of their own mistakes, the Knicks needed the Spurs to commit a couple of blunders. This time, they never came.

With maturity and resilience, the Spurs reminded everyone at halftime that they may actually be better than the Knicks; they certainly do not have to be worse. Their 58-47 second-half dominance reopened the Finals and sent a warning before tomorrow’s game: the Knicks have no margin for error. Their only viable path is to come much closer to their best version. This time, they also lost one of those stretches where everything had been going their way during the previous month and a half.

The Spurs learn how to dive

After a superb first quarter from the Spurs (33-22) – they have now outscored New York by 29 points in opening quarters across the series – halftime arrived with the Knicks leading 64-57, a score that smelled like 3-0. Whatever the visitors did, the Knicks seemed to find a way to finish on top. The 42-24 second quarter was a storm that preyed on the fears of a Spurs team that has been outscored by 32 points in second quarters across the three games. But from those depths, they emerged. They stuck to their plan and, within seven minutes of the third quarter, despite Jalen Brunson trying to conceal his team’s growing congestion, the game had flipped to 79-76. From that point on, there were runs and swings, but the outcome never changed: the Spurs were better.

Victor Wembanyama ended up being the most impactful player on the floor, the basic requirement for Spurs victories in a series that has followed another simple pattern so far: whichever team wins the turnover battle wins the game. San Antonio’s pressure at the point of attack was suffocating again, but many Knicks mistakes were entirely avoidable, as though their minds were already three or four plays ahead. Exactly what had not happened during the previous 46 days without a loss. It is an obvious lesson heading into Game 4, which now feels like far more than a single point in the series: it will determine whether the road to Texas is 3-1 or 2-2.

For the first time, Wembanyama looked like the best player in the Finals when he stayed near the basket, set quality screens and made the Knicks reluctant to attack the rim. Magnificent early, he faded briefly before reappearing at the right moment, less dazzling but wearing combat boots: 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

Everyone else contributed. The three-guard lineups finally worked effectively. Fox and Dylan Harper did what they could, while Castle went from a heroic first half with 18 points to a shaky second half offensively before scoring the final five points that sealed the win. He also recognized quickly that this was a game that demanded physicality and led the defensive effort of a team pushed to the limit but finally capable of overcoming its own contradictions, controlling the Knicks’ surges and, most importantly, making the shots that mattered. That is how they lost Game 2. That is how they won Game 3. And now, at the very least, they have reason to believe.

Anunoby’s enormous effort

Despite stumbling through two of the first three quarters (outscored 68-49 across the first and third), the Knicks entered the fourth quarter in a situation that seemed perfectly suited to them: trailing just 92-91, another opportunity to test armor that had appeared bulletproof until now. But when the moment of truth arrived, they completely lost their rhythm and froze. They shot 7-for-27 overall, 2-for-14 from three-point range and 1-for-16 from everyone not named Jalen Brunson. Brunson scored 32 points but had five assists and five turnovers. OG Anunoby, with 28 points and five rebounds, was their most consistent performer.

Mikal Bridges was thrown off by foul trouble. Josh Hart lived off the three-point shot in the first half, rarely a sustainable formula over an entire game. Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 11 points and was truly visible only during the second-quarter surge, lost the authority he had established over Wembanyama and the Spurs’ interior defense. Small-ball units featuring Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson worked during the second quarter but fell apart after halftime, as Brown searched for alternatives to the combined 1-for-9 shooting from Landry Shamet and Miles McBride. Brunson threatened to put on the hero’s cape again, but through three games he has recorded 13 assists and 13 turnovers, needing 81 shots to score 82 points.

A strange day and an even stranger buildup, filled with security operations instead of celebration around Madison Square Garden, ended in a defeat whose true significance will become clear tomorrow. Game 4 will decide whether the Spurs’ rebellion remains in its first chapter or grows large enough to transform the Finals. Great teams, champions, regroup and learn. The Knicks cannot afford so many giveaways, so many careless turnovers and so many missed open shots. Nor can they continue playing at the frantic pace preferred by a Spurs team with nothing to lose.

This is only the second time in history that the first three Finals games have been won by the road team. The previous example came in 1993, when Michael Jordan’s Bulls controlled Charles Barkley’s Suns. That is the model the Knicks must now follow. Suddenly, they have almost no margin for error, because a 2-2 series would mean far more than just 2-2 for the Spurs. That conclusion remains on hold until tomorrow, when we will find out how much Finals basketball remains and whether this night will indeed be remembered in New York as the cursed Donald Trump Game.

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