The San Antonio Spurs (and officials) served the New York Knicks a slice of humble pie Monday in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals. San Antonio got on the board in the finals, taking Game 3 115-111 and snapping New York’s 13-game playoff win streak.
Besides President Donald Trump’s trip to Madison Square Garden, the biggest storyline from Game 3 was the officiating, which sucked for a second straight game. Even though I’m a Knicks fan, I try to be objective, and the officiating was objectively inconsistent Monday.
First of all, the Spurs got three times more free-throw attempts in the second half. Second, the referees somehow missed 7-foot-5 Victor Wembanyama shoving Jalen Brunson’s head at the top of the key, a few feet away from the ball.
KNICKS LEGEND CAUGHT EATING FRIES LIKE BONE-IN WINGS DURING NBA FINALS, AND FANS CAN’T LOOK AWAY
Also, Brunson got a flagrant foul for being in the Spurs forward Julian Champagnie’s landing space on a three-point shot. But the refs didn’t call anything on Wembanyama when he did the same thing to NYK wing Josh Hart earlier in the game.
Between the hooligan-ish behavior in New York City, San Antonio’s desperation not to go down 3-1 and the chippiness of this series, Game 4 of the NBA Finals should be the most intense basketball game so far this season.
At DraftKings, New York is -135 on the moneyline and a cheap -2.5 favorite on a 217.5-point total as of 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Now that the stage is set, let’s discuss my best bet and a player prop for the Spurs-Knicks Game 4.
Again, I’ve already mentioned that I’m a Knicks fan, so if you want to ignore this bet or fade it, no worries. All I can do is show my math, so to speak, and explain why I’m wagering on New York for Game 4.
However, free-throw attempt rate is the only one of the “four factors” in which San Antonio is leading in the NBA Finals. The Spurs have 23 more free throws in this series, which is misleading because they have intentionally sent Knicks backup C Mitchell Robinson to the foul line eight times.
Eventually, the free-throw discrepancy should even out, and the most likely time that happens is at Madison Square Garden Wednesday or if the series goes to a Game 6. Otherwise, New York is leading San Antonio in shooting, rebounding and ball security in the finals.
Meanwhile, NYK had a seven-point lead at halftime of Game 3 and only lost by four points despite looking like they had never played basketball before in the first quarter, Brunson playing terribly, Karl-Anthony Towns having little impact, Mikal Bridges no-showing and sketchy officiating.
While it was fun for Knicks fans to talk about a sweep, I said in my 2026 NBA Finals betting preview that New York would win the title in six games. With that in mind, I got NYK winning their last two games at the Garden, starting with Game 4.
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