NBA Refs, Missed 3’s, & Turnovers Doom Knicks. San Antonio 115 NY 111

June 9, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
OG Anunoby had 28 pts on 9-13 shooting (3-7 from 3) with 2 blocks. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The NBA and its referees did another job on the Knicks — but NY still could have won if not for a lot of unforced turnovers and missed 3’s that culminated in a 115-111 Spurs win at Madison Square Garden on a Monday night — pulling the Spurs within 2-1 in the Finals.

The Spurs had 24-8 free-throw advantage in 2nd half, allowing them to come back from a 7-pt halftime Knick lead to win. It broke down worse than that:

  • The Spurs had a 12-1 free-throw advantage in first 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter allowing them to come back from 7-pt Knick lead at the half.
  • Overall, Spurs had a 14-3 free-throw advantage in 3rd quarter, and an 8-1 free-throw advantage in first 8 minutes of 4th — a 22-4 advantage in the 2nd half to that point, which enable them to build a 12-pt lead that the Knicks still almost overcame at the end.

The iconic play of the game was Victor Wembanyama whipping Jalen Brunson to the floor by his head in full view of the refs — and not being called for anything — not a flagrant, not a foul, not even a technical — at the same time that Karl-Anthony Towns was being bulldozed inside and no foul called.

But in the 2nd half anytime the Knicks touched Wemby, he was to the line.

NY still could have won but could not make enough shots go down in 4th quarter, the ball rolling in and out on 3’s or Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns drives.

And then there were NY’s unforced turnovers — mostly in the 1st half and a few at the start of the 3rd quarter. They finished with 13 turnovers to San Antonio’s 10 — but the Knick turnovers were unforced.

“I never thought I’d be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight,” said Knick coach Mike Brown afterwards. “San Antonio is a great team. It is going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play game 4 and in the 2nd half they get 24 free throw attempts to our 8. And maybe we were fouling, but they were fouling too. KAT gets the ball off a loose ball rebound, and he shoots it and he gets whacked across the ball and they hit the ball and it goes out of bounds on the baseline and there was no foul. There were opportunities for fouls to be called to at least even the free throws out.”

“Now we didn’t play good; San Antonio played great; we could have played better — there were a lot of things that we didn’t do that we did in game 1 and game 2 — but to go 24 free throw attempts in the 2nd half compared to 8?

1. Wemby & Spurs Guards Jump on Top 33-22

San Antonio came in down 2-0 in the series and desperate for a win. The Knicks came out playing hard too but turned the ball over on unforced turnovers on the first two plays of the game.

The Spurs meanwhile went to Wemby for drives inside — Wemby was looking intent for his bad turnover at the end of game 2 that cost the Spurs the game.

The Spurs guards joined in — Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle especially — and San Antonio jumped on top 33-22 at the end of 1 quarter.

2. Wemby Whips Brunson Down by Head — No Call — Becomes Viral Icon of Game

San Antonio continued the play the very physical ball they played in game 2 on Brunson, and getting away with it with no fouls called. An iconic play of the game came with 4:35 left in the 1st when Wemby whipped Brunson to the floor by his head and was not called for anything, all the while KAT was being pummeled inside by Keldon Johnson — no call there either.

This was the 2nd time in the series that the refs looked the other way at an apparent Wemby flagrant foul — he had whipped Jose Alvarado to the ground in a similar way in game 2.

Why the Refs May be Looking Other Way at Wemby’s Flagrants

Wemby picked up a Flagrant 2 in a game against Minnesota. The NBA counts a Flagrant 2 as 2 penalty points, and a Flagrant 1 as 1 penalty point. Players are allowed 3 pts in the playoffs — a 4th point causes an automatic 1-game suspension, and any pts after that causes additional 1-game suspensions.

Had the refs called a foul on Wemby’s plays against Alvarado or Brunson — either could have been called a Flagrant 2, meaning an automatic 1-game suspension.

3. Alvarado Spurs Knicks; Take Command in 2nd Quarter — Go Up 7 at Half

Jose Alvarado came in at the start of the 2nd quarter and sparked the Knicks — penetrating and distributing the ball.

Hart Was Hitting His 3

Josh Hart hit his 3 — going 4-7 from 3 on the night on open 3’s, and coring 16 pts overall on 6-10 shooting with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

OG Was Dominant

OG Anunoby had a dominant night for NY, slamming inside on Wemby and hitting 3’s — finishing with 28 pts on 9-13 shooting (3-7 from 3) with 2 blocks on defense.

4. Spurs Get NBA Favorite Treatment in 3rd

The Knicks entered the 3rd up by 7 pts — and the NBA immediately hit them with 3 fouls in the first minute and a half, giving San Antonio the momentum.

On one play, Julian Champagnie hit a 3 and threw his legs out into the 2-pt area, falling on Brunson’s foot — and Brunson was called for a Flagrant foul.

The Spurs got an 11-1 free-throw advantage to start the quarter, and a 14-3 advantage overall in the quarter.

5. Knicks Go to Brunson for Too Much Iso Ball in 3rd

The Knicks pushed back throughout — the game remained close throughout the quarter. NY relied too much on Jalen Brunson iso ball early in the quarter — although he did make a spectacular play through contact on one play.

NY was not running its offense thru KAT at all (11 pts on 4-10 shooting) and Mikal Bridges had only taken 2 shots midway thru the 3rd — he finished 1-5 (0-3 from 3) for 2 pts.

The Spurs were able to take a 5-pt lead with 2 minutes left in the quarter. Jose Alvarado came in and sparked the Knicks again. Jordan Clarkson hit a huge 3 with the shot clock running out to tie the game 89-89.

6. Castle & Wemby Hook Up in 4th; Wemby Also Gets Lotsa Touch Calls

The Spurs took a 93-92 lead into the 4th, and then the Refs killed the Knicks some more — giving San Antonio and 8-1 free throw advantage to start the quarter.

Most of the fouls came due to the Knicks contending with Wemby. Stephen Castle and the San Antonio guards kept hooking him up. Wemby had looked fatigued in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

Mitch Pushed Into Wemby by Johnson — Foul Initially Called on Mitch

With 7:45 left in the 4th and the Spurs up 100-93, Mitchell Robinson — who played good D vs Wemby all night — was hit with a foul as Wemby hit a 3 — but it was due to Keldon Johnson shoving him from behind into Wemby. The Knicks had to waste a challenge to get the call overturned. Instead of a possible 11-pt Spurs lead, it was still 7.

7. Knicks Can’t Knock Down Enough Shots; Castle Killer

Despite the refs and not being on their game, the Knicks came back and made it close — and could have gotten over the hump but their shot kept rolling in and out. A Brunson drive rolled in and out, a KAT drive rolled in and out, Bridges and Shamet 3’s rolled in and out.

And Wemby was part of it too — blocking a Shamet drive.

Stephon Castle continued to kill the Knicks with athletic drives and feeds to Wemby. He hit a killer 3 with 1:57 left to turn a 108-104 game into a 111-104 Spurs advantage.

“Solid game from Stephon Castle,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “He plays with a purpose, defends with a purpose, moves with a purpose, finds open man, has the big time athleticism but also knows how to utilize his size/strength. Also, valued the basketball tonight while hitting some big time shots down the stretch.”

Knicks Still Almost Come Back

NY still gave it a run — as the game went down to the wire. OG hit a huge 3 with seconds left, but the Knicks ran out of time.

Etcetera — President Trump in Attendance

President Donald Trump attended the game — becoming the first sitting President of the US to attend an NBA finals game. Trump of course is a native NY’er from Queens, and a big Knick fan who has been courtside at the Garden for many, many years — on top of being the Greatest President ever by orders of magnitute.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401859965

 

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