EXTENDED: No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 3 Knicks | NBA Finals Game 3 Highlights | June 8, 2026

The NBA finals where dreams do come true and we're waiting to see who will be the next star to gain finals fame as we welcome you to New York City and Madison Square Garden where for the first time in 27 years a finals game will be played in this iconic arena. The first two games in San Antonio were thrillers. Game one the Knicks with an inspiring comeback. Game two Spurs with a comeback of their own but they fell short and the Knicks prevailed. Now we have game three in one of the biggest and most anticipated sporting events here in New York in a very long time. At forward at 6'7 from St. John's, number 30, Julian Schapening. At forward at 6'5 from Florida State, number 24, Devin Bissell. At center at 7'4 from France, number one, Victor Wembanyama. At guard at 6'6 from Connecticut, number five, Stefan Kassel. And at guard at 6'3 from Kentucky, number four, D'Aaron Fox. Head coach for the Spurs, Fitz Johnson. And now, please welcome the sixth straight and starting lineup for your new New York Knicks. At center at 7'0 from Kentucky, number 32, Carl Anthony Towns. At forward at 6'7 from Indiana, number eight, O.G. Ayodomi. At forward at 6'4 from Villanova, number three, Josh Hart. At guard at 6'6 from Villanova, number 25, McHale. At guard at 6'2 from Villanova, number 11, Garrett Bronson. Game three underway. Meanwhile, the Knicks fans have not seen their team in person for 18 days, at least the ones that don't travel. But I think this is the end of the floor that has left the Spurs down more so than the defensive end. They have got to be better down here, and that's a good way to start right there. The penetration by Fox. Bronson trying to stop Kassel. Towns helping out as well. Once again, inside Wembanyama, and he throws it down to Hart. Wemby's presence makes the Knicks hesitate. Bridges, corner three, shot blocked by Wembanyama. What a start for San Antonio. Fox gets into the paint. Crowd thought he dragged his pivot foot instead. The cell knocks down the three, and as the sound fakes, Champagne keeps him in front. Hart, left wide open, connects on a three. Cleveland was willing to lose him, but in this series, Josh Hart just has not had opportunities. Kassel gets inside. Good defense from Bridges, but then Kassel stays with the play. Banks at home and a chance for a three-point play. Bronson and Kassel. A lot of bumping. Bronson spinning, leans in, falling away, shot, Banks at home. High off the glass. We know this, Lakes. The second person is typically the person that gets caught. Kassel throws it up. Maybe the only person in the league that could have caught that Wembanyama with another bucket. Wembanyama fakes the three. Kassel fires a three, puts it in. Kassel with his first three-pointer. Javitt searching. Hart tries another three. Hart nails another three. I tell you what, you're Mitch Johnson. You got to scratch your head a little bit. You finally leave him, and he knocks down two as Wembanyama. So patient and strong playing through the contact. He's in for the first time. So Johnson and Hart throw off the bench. Ananobi backs in. Tough fall-away shot is up and bounces around and drops through. Really takes away your vision at the last second for a shooter as you're trying to release. Harper splits the defense, gets to the rim, and lays it home. Once again, right into Wembanyama. Shamitz guarding. Stripped. Good hands defensively. Bronson the other way. Ananobi has it. Spins against Kassel and throws it down. Hart rips down another rebound, looks to push. Hart goes right at the rookie and banks it home. Timeout San Antonio. Here's Fox. Shamitz trying to fight over screen, and Fox drills the floater. His first field goal, and the lead is up to 11, largest here in the first quarter. He's not hitting as consistently as he has all season. Shamitz tries to fight through another screen, and Harper throws it down. Dillon Harper once again off the bench. When Wembanyama sat on the bench, 8-6. But they still trail by 9, Champagny. Wemby had that great start crossover on Robinson. Champagny lets it fly. That's good. After one quarter, and essentially a must-win game for you guys, just what's feeling good so far? I think our defense is connected right now. It's loud in here, but you know, we're communicating, we're rotating, and we're limiting them to one shot. Offensively, you guys have been very deliberate about looking for Victor early. Why will it be so important to keep that going? I just think he's our engine for our offense. You know, he creates advantages for us, especially when he touches the paint, so he kind of just opens everything up for us and lets us play free. All right, thanks, Stephon. Mike. All right, Lee's caught O'Brien's first shot of the night. Drills a three from the corner. Alvarado wanted to use Towns. A little miscommunication pulls up. Jump shot. Caught it. Guarded by Wemby. A whistle and a foul. How about Jose Alvarado talking about fearless? Still early second. Hassell searching for some room. Gets inside easily. Beautiful move. A little burst of speed. Hassell now four for four. He's got 11 points. Bryant right up in him. And an OB in the corner. Clarkson launches a three and nails it. Fox on Towns. Drives inside. Forces up the shot and knocks it down. And used his touch over the top. Hassell stripped by Towns. Picked up by Bridges. Ball deflected by an OB. He's going to try a three-pointer. Got it. And they do a good job of keeping Wemby as the low man. It doesn't matter who the offensive player is. Hassell banks it home. Tough shot from Hassell. Gets to the rim. Won the national championship. Now Mitchell Robinson. Oh. Towns gets in and lays it up and in. Clarkson takes it away from Bussell and then throws it away. Castle with Hart. Towns trying to help. Fouls him. Banks it home. Stephon Castle with a chance for a three-point play. He's got 15 points already. And Brunson. Spurs back up five. Just past the midway point second. Brunson goes right at Cornett. Righty shot. He banks it in. How did he do that? Here comes Champeny. Harper inside. Lays it up and in. This kid is phenomenal. And their eyes are lighting up now. If they can just get past their initial defender, they know they've got a great chance to get all the way to the rim. But San Antonio continues to attack. Hart on the drive. Deflected but finds its way to Clarkson. Back in the corner. Shot clock winding down. And an OB. Step back. Three-pointer. It's good. Oh gee. And an OB. He's got 15. Excellent transition defense from the Spurs. Brunson. Long three-pointer. Puts it in. And the Knicks take the lead. Wembley. Thought about a floater. Champeny. Back to him. He steps back. He tries a three. Knocks that one down. First three-pointer for Wembley. He's got 12 points. Fox and Castle back and easily throws it down. An indefensible play. He's really impacted the game from the scoring side. From Mignogna to Fox. Fox searching. Pulls back. Jump shots up. And that's good. That type of production in the first half critical for the Knicks. Brunson back up top. They swing it. And an OB. Wembley closes. And an OB with the slam. A thunderous jam from OG Ananobi. Kicks it out. Hart to Brunson. Fakes. Drives Brunson back up top to Hart. Hart's going to try another three. Got it. Josh Hart has suddenly come alive from downtown. They kick it out in the corner. Ananobi on the drive against Wembley. Back up top. Brunson. Long three-pointer. Wemenyama. The defensive player of the year. Tied up nicely. Gets it out to Champeny. And drills it. And a foul. Brunson's going to pick up a second and a chance for a four-point play. Brunson. Shot clock winding down. Dribbles. Drives. Inside. Shot off the glass. Can't get it. Fights for the rebound. Brunson gets it back. Puts it up and in. And OG Ananobi coming in there. Even though he didn't get it clean, he stopped Victor from getting an offensive rebound. Ananobi once again to the rack. Attacking the rim time and time again. He's got 19. Again, Castle meeting Brunson at half court every time. Foul. Shot's good. Yes, they count it. And one. Felt the contact. Throw it up. And a chance for a three-point play. That's his second circus shot of the game. He's got 20. Wemenyama. Beautiful, smooth-looking jumper there. This one would be the rebound in traffic. Here comes Harper. Spurs have numbers. Vassell lines up three-pointer. It's good. Evan Vassell now in double figures. Second youngest team in Finals history. Only the 77 Blazers don't play like a young team as Ananobi drills another. He's seven of eight from the field. San Antonio's missed six free throws so far. Brunson to Hart. Corner three. Puts it up. Puts it in. Josh Hart. From Hart Heroics here in game three. He's four of six. Harper back in the game with Johnson, Vassell, Castle, and Wemby. Long three. Nope. Passes last second. Johnson gathers. Lays it up and in. Great look from Victor Wemenyama. Important stretch for the Spurs because you know Wemby's going to get a blow here in a few minutes. Another long three-pointer. Lines it up and knocks it down. So smooth from long distance. Robinson the offensive rebound. Brunson finds some room. Flips it up. Shot. Robinson on a follow. Harper another double-figure game off the bench. Goes right at Towns. Lays that up and in. Right at the seven-footer. And a 12-point turnaround here in the third. Disrupts seven. Towns. Alvarado. Across the lane. Whips a pass in the corner. Shabbitt fires and hits. Castle gets into the paint. Throws it cross-court. Back up top. Champagny. Clean look. Straight on. Knocks it down. Champagny with his third three-pointer. And Towns surrounded. Looking. Finds Clarkson. Shot clock winding down. Clarkson fires up a three. Oh he knocks it in. His first points of these finals. Harper comes right back and nails the three. Dylan Harper with 13. Alvarado calling it out. Alvarado playing important minutes off the bench again. Bridges finds some room and knocks down the shot. His first points of the night. Put so much work in, so much sacrifice. Alley-oop to Wembenyama. Perfect pass from Castle. And a lead is up to three to go with his 13 points. And I like getting Harper back on the floor. Game one. They went I think Dylan Harper's the guy in the moment. And San Antonio spreads out to Knicks. Now a seven-point lead. Brunson looking. Leans in with a right hand. Bank shot won't go. Mitchell Robinson with a tip. Castle now chasing Brunson. Brunson gets inside. Sidestep layup. Banks it in. Back to five. Brunson doubled. Inside Ananobi. Ananobi at the foul line. Shoots the jumper. And the soft touch goes through. 24 for Ananobi. Fox. Nice crossover. Gets inside. Layup is good. Just the third field goal from Fox and it's back to seven again. Harper gets the rebound. Looks to push. Ananobi in front of him. Harper sidestep. Blocked by Ananobi. Harp the rebound. Another spectacular defensive play. Towns a three. Off the mark. Brunson catches it. Goes inside. Layup. Banks it in. And the foul. Josh Hart couldn't deliver the ball. It's a great cut right there by Schammett though. Good ball movement. Towns fakes a three. Finds Brunson. Extra pass. Schammett off the bounce. Inside layup. Blocked by Wemby. Two and a half remaining. Brunson finds Hart. Back to Brunson. Fakes the three. Drives inside. Sidestep right handed shot. Blocked. Castle got a piece of it. Knocked out of bounds. Towns blocked by Fox. Bridges back to Brunson. He's got to put it up. Shot clock winding down. Shot is up. Shot is good. Lux shot and it's a four-point game with 2.20 remaining. Lumbanyama comes out. Shot clock at four. Now the dribble. Shot clock winding down. Castle has to put it up. Bang! Stephon Castle from three-point range and it's a seven-point Spurs lead. Brunson drives on Harper. Steps back. Three-pointers up. It's good! Jalen Brunson drills the three. It's a three-point game. They don't have to foul. Got about eight, nine seconds here. Difference if they can get one more stop to have an opportunity. Get a timeout. Try to tie this. Had a nine-second difference. Shot clock and game clock. Towns holding on to Wemby. Fox gets into the paint. Puts up jumper. Got it! De'Aaron Fox with a clutch bucket right there and it's back to a five-point game. Timeout with 12.2 remaining. Knicks still do have one timeout left. Goes to Ananobi in the corner. Fires away. Three-pointer. Got it! Koji Ananobi nails it. It's a two-point game with 9.4 remaining. Another clutch three-pointer. Castle looking. Fox gets free. Throws it right back to Castle. And there's the foul. Castle has hit three of four from the free-throw line here tonight. State goes back to Castle. Knocks down the first. Stephon Castle. Huge free-throw here. Oh, so clutch for Castle. The Knicks will use their final timeout. That makes it a four-point game. Brunson looks like he's going to lob it. Nope. Ananobi. Corner three. Fires away. Shots no good. And the Spurs win. What a response from San Antonio. They do it again. An inspiring road win and they are right back in the series. The Knick League cut two games to one. Just what was better tonight about the late game execution? Less mistakes. More control. You said that game two was going to fuel you. How did it fuel you tonight? I mean, in the way we see. It's the little things. We were more serious. Less mistakes. Last turnovers. It's a hole. In one of the late game huddles, I heard Mitch Johnson tell you guys, it's not about our offense. It's going to happen on the defensive end. What was better about the Absolutely. Defense feels offense and vice versa. What was better in the defense was communication being early. You also said it was about not making mistakes. It was also about Stefan Castle's big three-point shot. What did you think when that went in? He's great. I'm not surprised. He's got great poise. It's hard to put into words how valuable he is to us and to me. Victor, to come into this building and to steal this game three, just what does it do for you guys and your confidence going into game four? Nothing really. We're all the time confident. We did what we were supposed to do, but the job is absolutely not done. We're not even halfway. The hardest is still to come. Thank you, Victor. Michael Wright, ESPN. Coach, coming into this game, you talked about wanting to get back to your brand of basketball. How do you feel like you fared in that endeavor? I thought we made some strides in terms of the ball movement and playing with our teammates, setting screens, trusting the basketball would find the right guy for our shot. I thought we showed better poise at times. I thought we finished the game still with some things that need improvement, but stronger than we did the last few games, first two games, excuse me. I just thought we were in attack mode, but also as a collective group. I thought it showed itself in terms of something would happen, whether it was initial action or a guy trying to get to the paint. If they didn't have a clear advantage, they were looking for their teammates. Because we were doing that throughout the night, it was much clearer for their teammates to expect where the ball was going and when it was going to get to them, and then what to do with it when it got to them. Third row on the right, John. Coach, johnschumanmb.com. That second quarter was rough, and you guys were down at halftime. Can you talk about how you felt at halftime, how the team felt, and how they responded in the third quarter? We had to come out with the right approach and the right energy. There were some things in the second quarter that we weren't sharp enough on. Halftime is a time to really catch your breath and discuss some things that you need to improve upon or what you're seeing out there that hopefully can help each other in the second half. That's what we did. I thought we came out in the third quarter with the right approach. We got some stops and had some good execution. Fourth row on the left, Peter. Mitch, after game two, Victor said he was going to use the way that game ended to fuel him and to fuel you guys. What do you think allowed him to have the bounce back he did, and what did you guys do to maybe put him in position to succeed tonight? I'm sure Victor has numerous sources of motivation. I don't think any of us are surprised or would expect anything different than a strong performance and him being on his front foot in terms of being in attack mode. For me and the staff, our job is to help the guys. There's no momentum. There's no carryover. We learned what we saw and experienced from the previous game. Now, plural, when you get into series, you've got to settle in and the clarity that comes from watching the tape and arguing with your staff and trying to help the guys is the job. That's what we'll continue to do and we'll have the same approach in the next 48 hours. First row in the middle, Tom. Mitch, De'Aaron had that shot with 12 seconds left, that mid-range jumper. He had struggled all night with his shot. Does that reinforce you want the ball in his hands in those situations, those clutch situations? Yeah. It's been in his hands. There's times where you ride a hot hand or you do this and that, but De'Aaron's been one of the best closers in this league for the last, I don't know what it is, five to seven years or whatever it may be. He's been a great closer for us. We trust him with the basketball in his hands, just like we do with the other main guys that dominate the ball. They make good decisions and there's times where they got to be aggressive for themselves and other times where they got to look for their teammates when there's a crowd or their teammate has an advantage. We don't expect anything different. And then Steph, speaking of clutch, he had that big three and then hit both those free throws. What did you think of his performance? I thought he was aggressive and I'm expecting him to be aggressive and he made some shots and stepped up and made some free throws and that's what big time players do. Third row in the middle, John. Yeah, John Hollingsworth from The Athletic. You guys defensively had one play in particular coming out of the timeout just over four minutes left. I don't know if you remember the sequence, but you kind of scrambled, scrambled and it ended with Victor blocking Shamit at the rim. I was wondering what your thoughts were on that play and the effort your guys made on that whole possession. Yeah, that was one of the plays tonight. I think that was really good reflection and example of, excuse me, we've had some possessions in the series quite a bit and they've made some plays, so tip of the cap to New York, but we've gotten them in late clock and when we get teams in the late clock, there's a lot of times you need to take advantage of that because typically that means they're not playing as organized basketball offensively. It also means sometimes you're not as organized defensively, but if you have the multiple efforts and then the connectivity of communication, hopefully can give you a good chance to get a stop and again a lot of times on those types of stops it also then bleeds into and transitions to offense. So it was a really good possession just in terms of multiple efforts, anticipating what your teammate was going to do and then Victor was there, obviously do what he does best and clean it up at the rim and it was a huge stop we needed at the time. First on the right. Coach, defensively in the fourth quarter they weren't able to get their first basket until around eight minutes left. Just what was your thoughts on how the team started the final period and locked in defensively? Yeah, again game plan execution, starting in the right spots, early communication, good switching, good job shifting understanding when we were rotating and getting to our inverts and then just working through the possessions. It's the same thing we've been doing all year and obviously this is the finals and it's against a team that's playing great basketball, but those are the simple things that go into executing the right way over time in a game and in a series. It's just the simple things. First round on the left, Jeff. Going back to what you were talking about earlier with Victor, I think his first three or four buckets were right there at the rim. Was that the kind of a renewed emphasis coming to this game is defining paint touches early? Yeah, I think it's every game. Games take on different personalities and different opportunities can show themselves early, right? We've never told Victor don't shoot an open three-point shot if you're open even if it's early in the game or whatnot, but yeah we wanted to put pressure on the paint, put pressure on the rim and it can show itself in a lot of ways and there's times where again he puts pressure on the rim, they tag him with one or two people, they open something else for someone else or he may be open late in the possession, but we just have to stay a little bit more stubborn and disciplined with trying to attack in that way. Coach, we saw the lineup with the three guards, Dylan, De'Aaron and Stefan. They played multiple minutes together. How important is that lineup for the team and what does it help you to do, for example, in the money time? Yeah, they've been great. Again, we haven't got to it as much this year for a lot of circumstances that I don't think anybody cares about right now, but sub patterns held fine in minutes and in continuity with everybody else, but they're three of our better players so there's some reasonable logic that goes into them playing together. Last question, Mike here standing on the left. Hey Mitch, Mike Vorkanoff with The Athletic. It seems like you guys are at your best when you're kind of attacking the rim relentlessly both with Victor but also with all the guards and the Knicks. Seems like they've made a strong effort to kind of wall off the paint. What's been the kind of the cat and mouse strategies that you guys have used there to win that? The NBA finals, two teams that are well prepared and well coached and imposing each other's will on trying to execute and execute through physicality and take away things and take advantage of things and I don't think there'll be a whole lot more new in 48 hours. There'll be who can do it better. Thank you coach. It's all good, y'all can start. Hey Vic, you obviously got Knicks fans very riled up throughout the game. At one point there was a colorful chant directed towards you. It seems as though you may be New York's newest villain. Is that kind of the ultimate compliment? I guess I'm nowhere near Trae Young level though. Second row. Hey Victor, Liam McComb from Sports Illustrated. Appreciate you taking a couple minutes. Yesterday Luke told me that he liked playing in road playoff environments and especially tough ones because all that adversity really makes a team come together. Do you feel like your team came together tonight in the face of a rockin' MSG crowd? Yes. At home it really feels like playing six against five. In here it feels like playing five against six. I agree with Luke. It really shows what teams are made of. Third row on the left. Hey Cam, Matt Guzman, Spurs on his side. I know you don't have a box score up there but even on nights where De'Aaron's not shooting the best, he's still finding ways to impact you guys. He led the team in assists tonight. Just how would you describe your trust in him at the end of games especially for him to deliver for you guys? I mean it's the trust. It's not even a question. That's his identity. So the trust is just complete. We know it's as reliable as they get and experienced at that. So he brings everything we need. Left. Rachel. Rachel Nichols, Fox Sports. Wemby, you've had three now close fourth quarters. What would you think was the biggest difference in you guys actually getting the win today and do you feel it was more physical, mental or execution or all of them? I guess a little bit of all. Most importantly it feels like it's communication. In what way? Knowing our coverages, knowing that's on defense, knowing our plays on office, being there early and letting our teammates know what to do if we see things. Second row in the middle. I'd like to say our game plan is always to get me. But often the teams make sure it's not possible and it's the teammates who take advantage. But it's always the first option. And I agree with you, we were much more in control and that was the difference. Third row in the middle, Jared. You said after last game that things weren't clear and tonight it seemed like you played with a lot of clarity. What have you done these last few days in New York to try to get your mind clear and how did that help you for tonight? Really try to relax. The playoffs is like a world win. It's hard to put your head out of the water and sometimes it's like I don't even got to watch the game back right away. I just need a little time off, let my brain cool down and recover. Recover as much for the body as for the mind. First row. Carol from Sportico. Over the summer you worked with KG, Hakeem and some monks as well. What in particular did you learn in the offseason that's really helped you in the playoffs and particularly with this pressure currently being down? I remember running laps and laps during the summer and my hamstrings were burning. I was pushing through because I was trying to push my limits. In the playoffs I felt my hamstrings burning from running so much, playing sometimes 25 game minutes in a row. The physical aspect is really the difference maker. Second row on the left. Victor Mike Finger, San Antonio Express News. To follow up on Jared's question about clearing the mind, can you tell us what you drew? Was that video of you drawing in the park real? I didn't see it. I drew the statue of that park. I don't know the name of the park. Not bad. Pretty good. Last row on the left. Victor, Valeria Rubino, CNW. I wouldn't say it's a question of the game. I'd say it's two very different questions. For Coach Pop, what's remarkable, especially as a rookie, is how much he's involved in ethical questions and how much he tries to convey values. Sometimes to people it doesn't speak to them at all, but he's convinced to do the right thing and it's very inspiring. He's a person who uses his notoriety for really inspiring and really good things. Last question, Ben, in the back. Victor, going back to what was the difference at the end of the game, Steph Castle comes up with the big three and also the free throws. I was curious what you thought of his role there and then the scene with his free throws where the crowd's going crazy. Steph's role? He might be the most mature player on our team and he's nowhere near the oldest. He's been in big games before. He's been in big games before the NBA. I'm not surprised by this. He's shown over and over again that he's capable and that we are right to put our trust in him. At the end, I didn't even hear the crowd really. I was focused on trying to get the rebound in case he missed, but that was useless. Thank you, Victor. Thank you. First of all, I want to make sure I get something clear. Coach Mitch Johnson and the Spurs, they won the game tonight. They came and took the game, but I will say this. I never thought I'd be in the NBA finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team's eight. I don't think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team. They're a great team. It's going to lower our odds big time if we play game four and in the second half they get 24 free throw attempts to our eight. Maybe we were fouling. Maybe we were fouling, but they fouled too. Cat gets the ball off a loose ball rebound and he shoots it and he gets whacked across the arm and they hit the ball and it goes out of bounds on the baseline. There's no foul. There were opportunities for fouls to be called to at least try to even the free throws out. We didn't play good. San Antonio played great. We could have played better. There were a lot of things that we didn't do that we did in game one and game two, but to go 24 free throw attempts in the second half, that's 48 for the game if you think about it the way that they called that second half compared to eight. All the shots we took, we got fouled four times roughly for eight free throw attempts. Again, I don't complain much. I never thought I'd see that in an NBA finals game and I saw it tonight. It's tough to overcome when you're playing against a great team. Having said that, again, San Antonio won the game. I'm giving their head coach and their players a lot of credit when we played great. Steven Castle played great. I'd go down the lines. Fox hit a big shot late, but as a team, if you take away the fouls and the free throws that should have, in my opinion, been a little bit more even. Again, maybe we fouled that many times, but they fouled too and it's not shown at the end of the day on this box score. Besides that, that's separate. Besides that, I thought that San Antonio, they hit first at the beginning of the game and they hit first at halftime. They hit first at the beginning of the game and they hit first at halftime. Their level of physicality was great tonight for them. Our attention to detail, our attention to detail on both ends of the four wasn't great. We allowed them to live in our paint. Castle got to the paint at will. Almost every pick and roll he played. Not only that, we talked about taking away the vertical threat of Wimby. He had probably seven lob dunks because we didn't follow attention to detail in trying to take that away. If you give them vertical dunks like that and you allow them to get paint like Harper and Castle did, it's going to be a long night. Offensively, we were about as stagnant as I've seen us all year, which helped with the 13 turnovers. If you're in an NBA Finals game and you have 13 turnovers to their eight and on those 13 turnovers they generated 21 points and on their eight turnovers we generated seven, it's going to be tough. The turnover situation, the free throw situation, and our attention to detail about keeping them out the paint and taking away the vertical threat, not good tonight. First question on the left, Rohan. Mike, on your left. Obviously there was a lot of anticipation for this game. What did you think of the environment tonight and did you have any concerns about all the extra stuff that went into this game having any effect on your guys leading up to it? It is what it is. This is the NBA Finals. There's going to be a lot of distractions and you just got to, as best you can, block them out and go play the game. What was the first part of your question? What did you think of the atmosphere? Oh, our fans, man. The fans are great. The energy around the city, the energy in the building, it's off the charts and you love it. Over here, James. Mike, over here to your right. Obviously a lot was made of just the 13-game winning streak and the type of effort you guys were giving on both sides of the floor, but those of us who have been with you guys all year, resiliency has kind of been the theme of this group. It's been so long since you guys have lost. I know you'd love to be up 3-0, but how kind of eager are you to see a pissed off Knicks team for the first time in a little bit? I told our guys it's a 7-game series for a reason. They're a great team. They're well coached. They've got an iconic player. It's not going to be easy and we have to keep trying to take one game, one possession at a time, but there are some things that we can control that I didn't think that we controlled tonight. Then, like I said, maybe we fouled 24 times, but I'm baffled that they only fouled eight in the second half. Same corner, Fred. Mike, to your right. You mentioned the stagnancy offensively. What do you feel like led to that and what do you feel didn't seem like quite as much involvement from Carl in general there on the offense. What did you feel like led to that as well? We were just playing a lot of drag into what we call summertime, body movement. We just wanted to stand and watch one guy dribble a ton. Then when the ball got passed, there were no quick decisions by the guy receiving the basketball. We have actions we can get into that we didn't do a good job of getting into, first of all. It's okay because you're not going to be able to run plays all the time, especially with how physical they are playing defensively. Sometimes you just got to go by guys, but you got to be smart. You got to take care of the basketball. You got to space right. You got to move the ball. You got to move bodies. We've done that quite a bit and we didn't do a good job of it tonight. The inconsistency you're talking about in the officiating, did you take this up? Did you talk to them about it? If so, what was their explanations as to why some things were getting called and some weren't? Yeah, I talked to them. They outshot us 14-3 in the third quarter from the free throw line. I talked to them and they said, this is a foul, it's okay, maybe right, but here are examples where they fouled and it didn't get called. That's the question I had with them. You're right. Maybe we did foul, but they fouled too. Like I said, if they do this in game four, where it's 24-8 in the second half, it's going to be tough for us to win. Now, there again, I don't want, and it's going to be that because I said it, the story is going to be that, but there are some controllables that we did not do a good job of doing. We allowed them to hit first at the beginning of the game. We allowed them to hit first beginning of the second half and we turned the ball over and we were stagnant offensively and we allowed them to get to the paint. We did not pay attention to detail with what we're supposed to do defensively. There are a lot of things that we can do better and we're going to have to do better, but in the same breath, like I said, hopefully they'll see some more fouls called against them so it's not 24-8. This is a four-point ball game, four-point ball game, one possession ball game going down the stretch. It's tough to overcome. Take last two, David and then Zach in the back. Mike, on your left. How much of tonight was them running some, maybe some different actions or different versions to kind of get, try to get Vic deeper into the paint and somehow, and how much of it was, as you said, your guys maybe not tagging and finding some of the ways to kind of impede him from getting deep position in the paint? You know, again, I give Centennial, their staff and their players, a lot of credit. They just kept, stayed with it, stayed with it, trying to execute, trying to execute, trying to execute and we did not do a good job with the details. So I think it's, you know, it's a combination of both because they had to execute their actions and then we had to make sure that we tried to execute our defensive responsibilities and we didn't do a really good job with it. Zach, all the way in the back. Mike, the fourth quarter of game two, Cat didn't get a lot, a lot of touches. Then tonight, kind of the similar. Is San Antonio doing anything differently in terms of how they're defending him? No, it's, it's, it's the same thing. We, we, it was, it was the way we played and the things that we were doing offensively. We were just coming down and just basically playing drag and we get the first try, you know, the first screen and then we literally just stood and watched, you know, and there was no movement. There was no, like, sometimes Cat has to flash the elbow. Sometimes he's got to post up and it's just got to be, you know, it can't be, because they're junking the game up by just putting Vic in one of the two corners and so if they junk the game up, I can call a play but sometimes you're have to just move and cut and pass the ball quicker and drive the ball quicker because they're almost, it's almost a zone that they're in to a certain degree and we didn't do a good job of attacking it. You know, we didn't do a good job of attack, a great job of attacking it in game two but the free throw discrepancy wasn't as big and we took care of the ball a little bit better and then defensively in game two we were a lot better with the details of what we needed to do. Thank you coach. Thank you guys. Hey Jalen, this is the first loss since 40 days. Going to the second half, eight free throw you got while the Spurs got 24 and being in a penalty with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, did that make you restricted a little bit on the defensive end? Thank you. Yeah, I think we turned the ball over a lot first and foremost but then also we were fouling a lot and put them at the line about 30 times and with our live ball turnovers and I got them on transition and they were capitalizing off of those so we were definitely fouling a lot. Next Dan, back left. Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports. Jalen, you guys went seven for 27 from the field in the fourth 20 points. What was contributing to some of the stagnancy? Did you like the looks you were getting in the fourth? I mean I like some of the looks but I also think that we were pretty stagnant so there's definitely things that we can learn from but it starts with our approach when we start the game and we start the half and I don't think we did well. I don't think I did well either. Ian on your left. Ian Begley, SNY. Jalen, just for you in general, did you get to the spots that you wanted to get to or are they bothering you on some of your shot attempts? I mean maybe a mix of both but I think most importantly the little things, the attention to detail, the stuff that we prior ourselves on we didn't do tonight. So regardless of whatever shots we were getting, the little things can make Second row on your left, Rohan. Jalen, obviously there was a lot of anticipation for this game from the fans. It's been 27 years. How would you describe your own personal anticipation heading into this game, you know, the moments before? What were some of your emotions as you took the court? I was locked in and ready to go. Over here on your right, fourth row. Jalen, Marshall from Weibo China. Before tonight a lot of people were already talking about a 3-0 lead or even a championship. How important it is for a team to stay grounded when everyone around you is looking ahead? Yeah, it's very important. We've consistently talked to each other about everything being 0-0, even now it's 0-0 and moving on and trying to stay focused. There are going to be a lot of distractions, positive and negative, but most importantly is how we compose ourselves as a team, how to make sure we have accountability as a team and we win or lose, we move forward as a team. In the back towards the center. Alder Almo from Pillstar.com. Jalen, what happened between you and Victor in the first quarter and did their level of physicality bother you? No, to answer your second question. Whatever you saw is what you saw. We're going to go up here in the front. Just wait for the mic. One second. Third seating, Chris. Hi Jalen, Chris Persiani in Clutch Points. You guys have not lost a game in quite some time and there's nothing good about losing a game. How do you take this feeling, put it in a box and put it towards game four? I think win or lose as a team, our mindset is always getting better the next day. We've done our best to try and learn from wins over the past couple weeks, but now we have to learn from a loss. I think the most important thing is that we are going to learn regardless because we know there are things that we're going to have to improve on going into the next game. The mindset stays the same. Anyone with a final question? Last one here in the third row. Jalen, Joe Pantorno AM New York. It looked like with about five and a half minutes left, you guys embattled the ball, got it to OG, it was open and the refs called it dead. Did you guys get an explanation of what happened there? I didn't, maybe the coaches did, but the ball was handed to me so I passed it. That's all I've got for you. Thank you, Jalen.