Spurs turn to physicality in resuscitating NBA title hopes
NEW YORK — The shove lasted only a moment. The message behind it lingered for the rest of the night.
Less than five minutes into the opening quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday (Tuesday Manila time), Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson became entangled while battling for position at the Madison Square Garden. As Brunson cut through the lane, Wembanyama delivered a hard shove to the back of the Knicks star’s neck, sending him stumbling forward before regaining his balance.
No whistle came.
Brunson immediately popped back up and exchanged words with the 7-foot-4 Spurs superstar. Wembanyama smirked before turning his attention elsewhere. The sold-out crowd roared. The temperature inside Madison Square Garden instantly rose.
What followed was the most physical, emotional and consequential game of the series.
By night’s end, Wembanyama had authored one of the biggest performances of his young career, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 115-111 victory that cut New York’s NBA Finals lead to 2-1 and breathed life into a series many believed was slipping away.
Asked by Philstar.com after the game about the first-quarter incident and whether San Antonio’s physical approach bothered him, Brunson brushed it aside.
“No,” Brunson said. “And whatever you saw is what you saw.”
Wembanyama, meanwhile, appeared to embrace the hostility from a crowd desperate to see the Knicks move one step closer to their first championship since 1973.
When asked afterward about becoming the new villain in New York, he smiled.
“I guess,” Wembanyama said. “I’m nowhere near Trae Young level, though.”
Physical edge helped Spurs establish control
The confrontation came during a blistering start by San Antonio.
The Spurs raced to an early double-digit lead behind Wembanyama’s aggressive play on both ends of the floor. New York eventually recovered, erasing the deficit and taking a seven-point halftime advantage, but the tone had already been established.
Every rebound, loose ball and drive to the basket became a battle.
The Knicks never backed down. They finished with advantages in several categories typically associated with winning playoff games.
New York outrebounded San Antonio 46-37. The Knicks also made more field goals, 40-39, and attempted four more shots.
Yet the numbers that mattered most belonged to the Spurs.
San Antonio relentlessly attacked the paint and forced New York into foul trouble, converting 25 of 32 free throws compared with the Knicks’ 18-for-22 performance. The disparity became especially significant after halftime, when the Spurs attempted 24 free throws to New York’s eight.
“I think we turned the ball over a lot, first and foremost,” Brunson said. “And also we were fouling a lot and put them at the line about 30 times. With our live-ball turnovers, got them out in transition. They were capitalizing off of those.”
The Knicks committed 13 turnovers that led to 21 Spurs points, while San Antonio repeatedly capitalized on extra opportunities in transition.
Filipino flavor adds another layer to Finals drama
Beyond the Brunson-Wembanyama confrontation, Game 3 also featured a unique Filipino connection on basketball’s biggest stage.
Rookie guard Dylan Harper and veteran Jordan Clarkson found themselves on opposite sides of the NBA Finals, creating a rare Filipino-American subplot for basketball fans in the Philippines.
Harper, whose mother Maria Pizzaro was born in Bataan and whose Filipino heritage has become a point of pride throughout his rookie season, contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists while helping orchestrate San Antonio’s offense.
Clarkson, the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year who suited up for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, nearly changed the game’s momentum in New York’s favor.
With the Spurs threatening to run away early in the second quarter, Clarkson knocked down a 3-pointer that ignited an 8-0 Knicks run. The burst sliced San Antonio’s lead to 40-38 and energized a Madison Square Garden crowd that had spent much of the opening period frustrated by New York’s sloppy start.
The momentum swing helped fuel a larger Knicks rally that erased an 12-point deficit and eventually produced a 64-57 halftime lead.
In his first meaningful minutes of the series, Clarkson finished with 10 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting and looked poised to become an unlikely catalyst for another New York comeback.
Instead, Harper and the Spurs regrouped after halftime and reclaimed control.
Though his scoring numbers were modest compared to San Antonio’s stars, Harper’s playmaking and composure helped steady the Spurs during several tense stretches as the Knicks threatened to surge ahead.
Young Spurs stars deliver historic performance
Ultimately, the game belonged to San Antonio’s young stars.
Wembanyama finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks, repeatedly answering every Knicks rally. He scored 10 points in the fourth quarter alone and looked far more comfortable than he did in the first two games of the series.
Stephon Castle provided the perfect complement.
The 21-year-old guard scored 23 points and delivered one of the defining shots of the night, burying a 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining to extend the Spurs’ lead to seven.
Together, Wembanyama and Castle made NBA Finals history.
They became the first teammates aged 22 or younger to each score at least 20 points in an NBA Finals game, underscoring why San Antonio remains one of the league’s most promising young teams despite entering the series as underdogs.
While the Garden crowd focused much of its attention on Wembanyama, Castle quietly punished defensive lapses and helped ensure the Spurs avoided falling into an insurmountable 3-0 series deficit.
Winning time belonged to San Antonio
The Knicks still received strong performances from Brunson, who scored 32 points, and OG Anunoby, who added 28.
But unlike the first two games in San Antonio, the biggest plays late belonged to the Spurs.
Wembanyama controlled the game’s tempo. Castle delivered clutch shot-making. San Antonio’s young stars met the moment. They executed when every possession carried championship implications.
The Knicks won the rebounding battle. They generated extra possessions. They made more baskets.
The Spurs won the free throw battle and, more importantly, the final minutes.
For one night, that was enough to silence Madison Square Garden.
The story of Game 3 will be remembered for Wembanyama’s brilliance, Castle’s emergence and the first-quarter confrontation that electrified the arena. But beneath the headlines was another reminder of how global the NBA Finals have become.
A French superstar embraced the role of New York villain. Two Filipino-American players shared the floor on basketball’s biggest stage. And when the final buzzer sounded, the Spurs walked away with more than their first win of the series.
They walked away with momentum.
What began with a shove ended with a statement and suddenly, the NBA Finals have become a fight again.
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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com.
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