The 202X NBA Finals took another dramatic twist on Monday, as the San Antonio Spurs secured a nail-biting 115-111 road victory over the New York Knicks at the world-famous Madison Square Garden, cutting the Knicks’ series lead to 2-1.
At the center of the win was 7-foot-4 generational talent Victor Wembanyama, who bounced back from a costly error-ridden performance in Game 2 to deliver a dominant 32-point outing. The young star added eight rebounds and six assists to his stat line, anchoring the Spurs’ comeback after a slow first half.
The sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, which hosted its first NBA Finals game since 1999, also got a surprising political spotlight: sitting US President Donald Trump, who made history as the first sitting US president to attend an NBA Finals championship series, was loudly booed by attendees when his image appeared on the arena’s big screen during the pre-game national anthem.
Wembanyama was not alone in securing the critical win for San Antonio. Guard Stephon Castle chipped in 23 crucial points, while reserve Dylan Harper added 13 points off the bench to shore up the Spurs’ second unit. The win was far more than just a single game victory: it kept the Spurs from falling into a 0-3 series deficit, a hole no NBA franchise has ever climbed out of in Finals history.
For the Knicks, the defeat snapped a 13-game overall winning streak that had carried them through the early rounds of the playoffs, leaving them two wins short of the Golden State Warriors’ all-time playoff winning streak record set in 2017. The Knicks have not claimed an NBA championship since 1973, and their quest to end the 50-plus-year drought now heads to a pivotal Game 4.
The game unfolded as a back-and-forth battle: New York held a 64-57 lead at halftime, but the Spurs rallied with a 35-point third quarter to flip the score in their favor. With just under two minutes remaining, Castle drained a three-pointer to push San Antonio’s advantage to 111-104. Unlike Game 1, where the Spurs collapsed under a late New York surge, this time San Antonio held firm under pressure. Even after OG Anunoby knocked down a late three-pointer to cut the lead to two points, Castle iced the game with two clutch free throws in the final 10 seconds.
Anunoby finished the game with 28 points for the Knicks, while point guard Jalen Brunson matched Wembanyama’s output with 32 points of his own.
Speaking after the game, Wembanyama kept his team grounded despite the much-needed win. “We’ve done what we were supposed to do but the job is absolutely not done,” he said. “We’re not even halfway. The hardest is yet to come.”
The best-of-seven series will remain at Madison Square Garden for Game 4 on Wednesday, with tipoff scheduled for 01:30 BST on Thursday. After that, the series will travel back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday, scheduled to tip off at 01:30 BST on Sunday.