After winning both games in San Antonio, Knicks in four was a viable outcome, especially since New York was so poised on offense and stifling on defense. The fans in NYC? Anything but poised. Rambunctious. Boisterous. Exuberant.
The energy prior to Monday’s Game 3 was goosebump-inducing. So radiant that it funneled through the walls of MSG into the living rooms of everyone watching the telecast. And surprisingly, it looked to have affected the Knicks more than the Spurs, as New York looked off, throwing the ball out of bounds and unable to foster a rhythm on offense.
The Spurs, though, were focused and all about the business, as they were essentially playing for their playoff lives. After the first quarter, San Antonio led by 11 points as the Spurs shot 61% from the field and dished out eight more assists.
But New York eventually got composed and began to play the beautiful basketball that guided them to 13 straight wins in the postseason. The defense started to lock down. The ball movement returned. The shots started to fall. After scoring only 22 points in the first quarter, the Knicks blistered for 42 points in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead into halftime.
The Spurs have been resilient all playoffs, and the young pups continued to be fearless, not backing down. In the end, San Antonio got the well-deserved win, 115-111, to cut the series lead in half and get some much-needed momentum.
The Spurs were physical on defense and had the answers for both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. On offense, San Antonio was aggressive, attacked the paint and ended up shooting 32 free throws, making 25. New York shot a total of 22 free throws.
San Antonio was outrebounded by nine and allowed six more offensive rebounds, but dished out 10 more assists and had 14 stocks to 10 for New York. The Spurs only turned the ball over eight times and led for 78% of the game.
Now we got ourselves a series. The adjustments that San Antonio made were prescient and effective. How will Mike Brown and the Knicks coaching staff adjust to the adjustments? We will find out on Wednesday.
With the matchup set, DraftKings Sportsbook has listed opening odds for Game 4 of this series, which takes place Wednesday, June 10, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Knicks enter as 1.5-point favorites with -125 moneyline odds. The Spurs are +105 underdogs, with the game total set at 215.5 combined points.
