It had everything you would want in an NBA finals game.

At the end, San Antonio shed the criticism of ‘soft team’ by blasting their way to a must win victory (115-111) infront of a crazed Madison Square Garden crowd in New York-who felt their Knicks would never lose a game again.  

So much for the Knicks 13-game playoff win streak.

So much too for Victor Wembenyama getting bulldozed in this series after the Knicks clawed their way to 2-straight road wins in San Antonio.

Wemby was everywhere from the start, on the block, going to the basket, pulling up for jumpers, hitting 3’s, taking fouls, getting knocked down and getting right up.  He really manned ujp to a (32P-8R-6A) do everything night.

Explosive G-Stephon Castle played under control most of the night, stayed out of foul trouble, and added a critical (23P) evening.

The Spurs attacked the basket all night long, so much so, they wound up going (25-32) from the free throw line.  Pounded the paint.

And San Antonio answered the Knicks Brillo Pad defense with their Spurs sandpaper tactics, crashing people, knocking guys down, running thru picks.

The Knicks showed huge spunk, wiping out a 12-point lead from the first half, but then they died.  NY went (0-10) in the 3rd quarter from the 3-point line, that doomed them.  

Jalen Brunson finished with a hard fought (32P). OG Anunoby was everything at both ends with a (28P) night, but rebounding and blocking shots too.

The bench poured home lots of points, led by a combined (26P) from Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson, but there was not much from Karl Anthony Towns.

It was a real war and the Spurs, who have come from behind on the road in other playoff series, really played hard in this win, setting up a Must-See Game 4 later in the week.

It was quite a night for celebrities sitting in the expensive seats.  Knicks legends were everywhere in the Garden.  So was Spike Lee and Derek Jeter and Eli Manning and lots of Hollywood celebs.

President Trump was there, though they booed him when his face was flashed on the huge video board while the National Anthem was being sung.  Knicks players’ facial expressions were ones of ‘stunned’ not knowing why the fans were booing the anthem. Trump got a rude welcome before he ever got to the Garden as fans outfront carried posters that read “F-U-TRUMP”.  He was not welcome home, considering he was a New Yorker once upon a time.

It was an extraordinary night in the Big Apple.  The TV ratings should be thru the roof.  

And for 1-night, we did not have to deal with the NBA Lottery tanking problems, bad refs, no defense, guys walking to the basket, overpaid unhappy players, LeBron and the Lakers,or the Clippers-Kawhi crisis.

So we see if game four can top game three.

Wemby and the Boys.  See it-believe it.  It was pretty impressive.

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