The San Antonio Spurs defeated the New York Knicks 115-111 last night, cutting their lead to 2-1 in the NBA Finals series.
The Spurs handed the Knicks their first loss in 46 days and potentially saved their season in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd that included United States President Donald Trump.
The Knicks snapped their 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA playoff history, and missed an opportunity to come within one step of winning their first championship since 1973.
Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio's win with 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Stefon Castle added 23, while Dearon Fox had 12 points and eight assists.
The Knicks, who lost for the first time since April 23, were led by Jaylen Brunson with 32 points, Oji Anunoby added 28, and Josh Hart had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Minutes after Trump was booed loudly at Madison Square Garden, the Spurs got off to a perfect start. Led by Vembanjan, the visitors had a double-digit lead after four and a half minutes of play, and were up 33:22 at the end of the first quarter.
The crowd at the Garden only cheered up when the Knicks went on an 11:2 run to cut the score to 40:38, only to have Branson make a three-pointer with four minutes left in the second quarter to take the lead for the first time in the game (50:49).
The Knicks led 64:57 at halftime, but San Antonio took the lead again in the third quarter, and before the last 12 minutes of the match, the guests had a plus one - 92:91.
Castle brought the Spurs up 111:104 with just under two minutes left in the game, the Knicks then made a three-pointer by Anunoby to make it 113:111 with nine seconds left, but Castle put an end to this match from the free throw line.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals will be played on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, again in New York.
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