Victor Wembanyama scored 32 points as the San Antonio Spurs snapped the New York Knicks' 13-game postseason winning streak with a 115-111 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
The spectacle at Madison Square Garden was such that the basketball almost took a back seat to everything else. The president was in the suites, the mayor in the crowd, and movie stars lined the sideline. The game marked the culmination of days of talk over $10,000 tickets, heightened security, and cancelled watch parties, alongside the anticipation for New York City's first home NBA finals game since 25 June 1999.
When all was said and done, Wembanyama had given New York something new to talk about. The Spurs played spoiler to the Garden's party, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in this year's finals. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.
Wembanyama's Dominant Performance
Wembanyama put together his best performance of the series, finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three blocks. Stephon Castle, who contributed 23 points, hit two free throws with 6.8 seconds left in the third nail-biting finish in as many games.
Jalen Brunson fueled the Knicks with 32 points, and OG Anunoby added 28, but the rest of the team went cold in the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth affair.
A Star-Studded Event
Donald Trump, a longtime Knicks fan invited as a guest of team owner James Dolan, watched from a suite and received heavy boos during the national anthem. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani attended separately, stating earlier Monday that he paid about $1,000 for his standing-room-only ticket. Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, and Larry David were among the stars on celebrity row.
Before Monday, the Knicks had not lost since 23 April. No NBA team has lost the first two games of the finals on its home floor and come back to win the championship, but the Spurs' hopes of doing so remain alive. The Knicks are still striving for their first championship since 1973.
