352 - Knicks Go Cold In Game 3 and lose 115-111

It had to end sometime, and the Knicks winning streak is over as the shooting went cold at MSG for the Knicks.

The Knicks finally took a punch in the NBA Finals, and it landed in the one place New York wanted to be unstoppable: Madison Square Garden. I react to the 115-111 Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, snapping a 13-game playoff win streak and ending a 43-day run without a loss. The offense looked out of sync from the jump, and once the game got tight, every turnover, every empty trip, and every rushed shot felt twice as heavy.

I dig into what went wrong and what still worked. OG Anunoby shined with a complete two-way performance, while Mikal Bridges was a non-factor and never got comfortable after early fouls. Jalen Brunson put up 32, but he was still off because of decision-making, fouls, and turnovers. Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t get enough clean involvement, and I talk about why the Knicks may need to run more through him if they want steadier offense and better late-game shot quality.

On the Spurs side, Victor Wembanyama changed the court on both ends with scoring, rim protection, and pure intimidation in the paint. I also highlight how San Antonio’s defense ramped up, how the whistle felt in the second half, and the brutal fourth-quarter math: New York went ice-cold from three, and a handful of makes flips the outcome. Game 4 is the hinge point, so I finish with a clear adjustment checklist for the Knicks to protect home court before the series swings back to San Antonio. Subscribe, share the show with a Knicks fan, and leave a review, then tell us your pick: what’s the single biggest change New York must make for Game 4?

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Transcript

Welcome And Game 3 Result

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Welcome to Jersey Guy Sports, your sports talk going for the Yanks, Giants, Knicks, Rangers, and the Ruckers Scarlet Knights. I'm your host, Don. I want to thank you for listening. And today I'm going to be talking about the New York Knicks going cold and finally losing a playoff game as they lose Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, 115 to 111. So let's go ahead and get started. Well, they say all good things must come to an end, and the Knicks' playoff winning streak has come to an end. 43 days since the Knicks' last loss. The Knicks had won 13 consecutive playoff games, but tonight, in Madison Square Garden, the Knicks go cold and lose game three of the NBA Finals, 115-111 to the San Antonio Spurs. It was a

Why The Knicks Offense Looked Off

SPEAKER_00 1:00

game where the Knicks did not seem quite as in sync on offense right from the start. And the people they had counted on over the last couple series did not do a whole lot. Mikhail Bridges, especially from the beginning, who I had been praising over and over and over, had two early fouls and never really got into the game. He ended up not really even taking that many shots, certainly did not play particularly well, and certainly was not really involved in much of the offense all night, and he had a particularly uninspired showing. Brunson again did not seem his best self. You know, he ended up with a fair amount of points, but again, his overall shooting was not great. He had too many turnovers, drove into traffic a few too many times, committed too many fouls. Brunson has to elevate his game a little more here. He did play well at the very end, but it was not enough for the New York Knicks, who now lead the series two games to one. The next game will also be at Madison Square Garden, but the Knicks have to make sure they win that game or they lose home field home court advantage right back to the Spurs. So that will be a critical game four that will be played at the Garden. Now OG was great, just about all game. Absolutely spectacular game from OG. And actually Josh Hart played pretty well early on, hitting a couple threes. Hart's had a tough, tough offensive series all series long, but he actually contributed a lot early on, and then Hart kind of faded. In the second half, Hart did next to nothing. But OG did very well offensively, defensively, just shines in every single area, blocking shots, getting rebounds, you know, scoring. OG was great. As I mentioned, with bridges being completely ineffective, you know, you would look to the Knicks' other star in general, and that's Kat. But Kat, again, was mostly ineffective this game. He could not hit any three-pointers. He had some critical misses at critical times, and he just wasn't his same really, really effective self that he's been. Matter of fact, you know, even defensively, he did not hold Wemby down much at all. Wemby had a great offensive game, his best game by far against the Knicks of the three, and it elevated the Spurs. He basically carried them to a win. Him and Castle were absolutely great. And also, Dylan Harper, who you know I love as a Rutgers fan, just really, really hurt the Knicks tonight. He is going to be a star in this league, Dylan Harper, let me tell you. Holy moly! He is so explosive

Wembanyama And Spurs Step Up

SPEAKER_00 3:45

and so tough inside and able to score in traffic. He is unbelievable. And he really hurt the Knicks tonight. There was too many turnovers from the Knicks, too many fouls, too many misses, particularly from Brunson, but also from most of the team. The you know folks that we had counted on over recent games really did not do much at all. Shamit only had three points the entire game, not great at all. 23 minutes, only three points. And you know, that's certainly you know a critical thing. And the Knicks generally just went very, very cold in the fourth quarter, and especially from three-point land. They ended up one of eleven from three-point land, or one of twelve, I think, you know, in the fourth quarter, and that's just obviously not going to get it done. And when you lose by four points and you go one of twelve, all you have to think of is if you just win a measly three of twelve, which is not good, three of twelve would have been what, twenty-five percent? That gets you six more points and you win the game, right? So even if they just shot slightly, slightly less putrid than they did, you know, from three, you know, you in the fourth quarter, you win that game. But the Knicks were one for twelve, and you can chalk it up to very cold shooting, and you can also chalk it up to some spectacular San Antonio Spurs defense. They really played

Cold Threes Turnovers And Whistles

SPEAKER_00 5:15

like a team that had absolutely everything to lose, and they put everything on the line and played aggressive, tough defense. There were large parts of the second half where their aggressiveness really translated into fouls in my mind, but they just were not called, you know, by the refs, whereas the Knicks were getting called on every single touch in the second half. Matter of fact, at one point they showed the free throws comparison, and the Knicks had four free throws, and San Antonio had 22 free throws taken in the second half, and this was with about five minutes left in the game or something like that. And you look at that and you're like, well, okay, maybe the game was that lopsided in the second half, but it didn't feel that lopsided. But referee-wise, it certainly was. The Knicks were getting called for everything. I mean, when when the free throws are 22 to 4, I don't know, man. There's something a little bit off about that. But you know, the Knicks cannot blame this on the refs, not just on the refs anyway. Although I was screaming a few times at them, you know, midway through the fourth quarter because it was really, really hurting the Knicks when they were making a charge. They were getting right back in it, right back in it. And then every little bump on Wemby was a foul. Every little rub the wrong way was a foul. And, you know, it got the Knicks in trouble. Now the Knicks have to

Must Win Game 4 Adjustments

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win game four at this point. I think it would be extremely, extremely dangerous to go back to San Antonio. Two of the last three games would be in San Antonio with the series tied at two. So the Knicks cannot, cannot let it get to that point. There is no way. The Knicks have to take game four here, and they do need to make some adjustments here. In my mind, they really have to get Kat involved more than he is now, and he needs to have more touches. For whatever reason, even in the good games, when he plays well and when the Knicks win, it feels like he doesn't really touch the ball enough. Like he could even be more part of the offense, and he might score 20 points, but only take eight or ten shots. And and I feel like, well, okay, maybe if he took 15 shots, he'd have 30 points, you know. And and I feel like the same way today, and I'll have to look up his stats, but again, he didn't take very many shots, but today he was ineffective anyway, particularly from three-point land. He was he was not good. The Knicks in general, in front of their home crowd, the first, you know, finals home game in 50 years, obviously. The the crowd was raucous in the beginning, but it went home disappointed after just a rough, rough game, a rough game offensively. And San Antonio, give them full credit, they played exceptional defense. Dylan Harper, the rising star, really helped them. Wemby shook off his last second miss in game two and came out with outstanding defense, outstanding offense. He shot the ball well from three, he shot the ball well from two, he had a million dunks, he had a couple rejections. He consistently intimidated each New York Knicks trying to go into the paint. He had one block on Shamit where he seemed so out of the play, you couldn't believe it. And the next thing you know, you know, one one and a half steps and a jump, and he rejects a layup. It's unbelievable the range and the defensive prowess that is Victor Victor Wemanyama. So it is a tough, tough road. You know, when you're going inside against the Spurs, the Knicks have been able to, you know, have a good game plan against that a couple times, but the Knicks have to do a few things, I think, in game four to get back. And one of them probably utilized Deuce more than they have. He didn't seem to, you know, have much of a role at all in this game three. The other thing is to get Kat more involved, more touches, more touches. And, you know, one would think, if things revert back to how they were, that Bridges will have a better game than he did, you know, in this game. And also at some point, at some point, Brunson has got to have, you know, one of his great games because he's had three games in the finals now, and none of them have been great. None of them, right? So I think it is time for him to start putting this team, you know, on his back. They won the first two games without him carrying them. And then if he played a little better in this game at certain points, you know, maybe the game

Box Score Reality And Final Takeaways

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would have tilted as well. So I think it's time, particularly at home, he has got to pick it up more than he has. And we're gonna see. As far as the stats, Hart ended up with 16 points. As I said, he had a really good start, six of ten shooting. Again, the second half didn't do much at all. OG Ananobi ended with 28 points, you know, and he just, of course, as always, fills the stat line, played a brilliant game. He had, you know, five more rebounds. He shot nine of thirteen from the field, and he had two blocks, and and you know, it just continues to do everything for the Knicks. Just another great game. Towns only had 11 points. You know, Kat with only 11 is an absolute off-night for him. He was 0 for 2 from three-point land. It seemed like he was 0 for 5, but I guess the stats say he only shot two. So maybe he just didn't take enough. And again, that goes back to what I've been talking about. The Knicks have to find more shots for Kat. They have to play through him a little more. This overall shooting was four for 10, which is not horrible. You know, 40% is not the worst thing, but it's not enough shots, and it just felt like he wasn't involved in the game. So Towns has to be more involved. Brunson ended, believe it or not, with 32 points, but again, it did not feel like he had a good game. So Jalen Brunson had in my mind a bad 32-point game. And I don't know how it's going to be written or what they're gonna comment on it, but Brunson was 11 for 25, 3 for 5 on three-point shots, 32 points, but again, it didn't feel like he played well. Like he had five turnovers, he continued to sort of dribble into trouble, I think, a lot of times. I didn't like his decision making in a few in a few spots, and it felt like it was too much ISO ball again, where I think the Knicks have to continue to have a lot more motion than they have. And again, here it is. Shamet only had three points, and Bridges only had two points. You know, it's gonna be hard for the Knicks to win any more games if Bridges has another game with two points and Shamut with three, with the way that they have been contributing. You know, five total points for those two players in 48 minutes is really a tough pill to swallow. So both of them had pretty bad games. Shamit was only one for eight from the field, and Bridges was one for five. And you know, what else can you say? They they have to be better. So the Knicks have to pick it up. The Knicks have to win game four. I think it's uh pretty crucial. You know, obviously if they lose, you know, it's only 2-2, it's not the end of the world, but you have to think all the momentum in the world, going back to San Antonio with Wemby, tied 2-2. Knicks cannot let that happen. Knicks are home, they have to utilize the garden crowd, they have to stop getting out to these early big deficits. Each of the three NBA finals games, the Knicks have trailed by 10 points or more in the first quarter. And you're certainly setting yourself up for failure when you do that. So it's imperative, number one, that the Knicks get out to a strong start. Number two, that they run the offense more through CAT. And number three, it's important that Chammett and Bridges have better games going forward. And hopefully they'll utilize Deuce more as well. Anyway, I think I'm gonna wrap it up there. It had to happen sometime. The Knicks had to lose at some point. Unfortunately, it happened in

Wrap Up And Subscribe

SPEAKER_00 13:20

game three of the NBA Finals at home, in their first home game in a long time in the NBA Finals. So that's gonna do it for the podcast. Want to thank you for listening to Jersey Guy Sports. Please subscribe to the podcast, tell your friends all about it. I'll be back soon with some more sports talk. Thanks, and have a good day.