The San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks 115-111 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday. While that was a huge win for the Spurs, as they cut the Knicks’ lead to 2-1, it was also a controversial one.
Knicks fans were up in arms about the officiating, and the crew of Marc Davis, John Goble, and Curtis Blair did end up making mistakes that hurt the hosts. Here’s a look at the controversial decisions that went against the Knicks on the night.
The one that stood out the most involved the two superstars in this series, Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson. Wembanyama shoved Brunson in the first quarter, much to the Knicks guard’s frustration.
Brunson frustrated at Wemby 😳 pic.twitter.com/0xd2HO78NV
— ESPN (@espn) June 9, 2026
Now, one might call for a flagrant foul here, but Wembanyama wasn’t slapped with one. The Frenchman wasn’t even assessed a common foul. Wembanyama had gotten away with shoving Jose Alvarado in Game 2 as well, and the Knicks would have the right to feel aggrieved.
Then late in the second quarter here, Stephon Castle trucked Brunson, who went crashing to the ground.
Jalen Brunson run over, hurts back, no flagrant pic.twitter.com/AsyvD8t5MA
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 9, 2026
The officials did review this play for a flagrant, but ultimately only gave Castle a common foul. This was a decision that split opinion. Richard Jefferson was calling the game, and he felt that was worthy of a flagrant. Tim Legler, on the other hand, felt it wasn’t. You be the judge.
On to the third quarter now, and Brunson was called for a flagrant foul over a reckless closeout on Julian Champagnie. While that was frustrating enough for Knicks fans, they were left fuming later in the quarter as they believed Wembanyama got away with a reckless closeout on Josh Hart.
And this was a no call… unbelievable pic.twitter.com/LN6uZBYb8X
— met baty (@Yagottahbelieve) June 9, 2026
We finally get to the fourth quarter now, and there were a couple of notable incidents here. First, Brunson was handed the ball to inbound it, and he threw it to Hart as the Spurs were attempting a substitution. The officials would then stop the game, and to say the Knicks weren’t happy would be an understatement.
THE REFS ARE TROLLING
They hand the ball to the Knicks to inbound it, then stop the game mid play to let the Spurs make a sub 🤔 pic.twitter.com/X3KAB4NEEE
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) June 9, 2026
The Spurs were actually just delaying the game a bit there to see if they should challenge that out-of-bounds call. They ultimately didn’t.
Speaking of challenges, the Knicks had run out of them after two successful ones in the fourth quarter. That meant they couldn’t challenge what appeared to be a clear foul on Towns late in the game.
Bro..Im so confused how officials call touch fouls but miss so many obvious ones like this. It’s been like this for the last 5 years or so. Lol pic.twitter.com/Q7ukrRJhqE
— K👁🌲🐺🌲 (@Kgformvp211) June 9, 2026
This crew certainly did not cover itself in glory. To go with all of this, Knicks fans were also unhappy about the free-throw disparity in the second half. The hosts went 6-8 from the free-throw line after halftime, while the visitors went 20-24.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown would voice frustration about the free throws after the game. Towns, though, made it clear that the officiating wasn’t why they lost. He pointed to their 13 turnovers from which the Spurs got 21 points.
The Knicks have to limit their mistakes if they are to end this 53-year wait for a title. They are still up 2-1 in this series, and Game 4 will tip off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
