Winners, losers from NBA Finals Game 3: Spurs get first win of series

Later, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama treated Knicks guard Jalen Brunson like a rag doll, flinging him to the court away from the ball without officials batting an eye.

Spurs guard Stephon Castle also lowered his shoulder into Brunson while attempting to crash the offensive glass in what looked like an obvious flagrant foul. Instead, it was deemed common after review.

Brunson didn't have the same fortunate on defense later, when he was given a flagrant foul for not giving Spurs forward Julian Champagnie landing room on his jump shot.

Before Game 4, it would be great if the NBA and the two teams sat down and agreed upon one set of rules. 

Winner: Spurs guard Stephon Castle

When not tackling Brunson, Castle was a force on the offensive end. He scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half, which ESPN Insights noted was the most in the first half of an NBA Finals game by a player 22 or younger since Kawhi Leonard in 2014 with San Antonio.

The 2024-25 Rookie of the Year had a big fourth quarter as well, hitting a massive three to put the Spurs up by seven, 111-104, with under two minutes remaining as the shot clock expired. He also drained two free throws to give San Antonio a four-point edge in the game's final seconds.

"I'm not surprised," Wembanyama told ESPN's Lisa Salters of Castle's big three, adding, "He's got great poise. It's hard to put into words how valuable he is to us."

After a subpar start to the series — Castle was held to 14 points on 14 shots in Game 2 — his big game was paramount to San Antonio avoiding an 0-3 hole. Castle will have to be just as good, if not better, for the Spurs to even the series.

Loser: Knicks fourth-quarter three-point shooting

New York played good enough defense in the fourth quarter to win, holding San Antonio to 23 points over the final 12 minutes. But horrid shooting was its undoing. The Knicks made just 2-of-14 threes during the quarter and shot an appalling 25.9 percent overall, unable to take advantage of an equally poor display by the Spurs, who shot 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) in the frame.

It's the second consecutive game New York has wilted in the fourth after previously being outscored by eight in the final quarter of Game 2. During the two games, it's shooting 14-of-52 (26.9 percent) from the court in the fourth quarter, including 5-of-25 (20 percent) from deep.

The Knicks, halfway to an NBA title, must figure out a way to finish strong to complete the job.

Winner: Spurs center Victor Wembanyama

After being outclassed by Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns in Games 1 and 2, Wembanyama had an NBA Finals coming-out party on Monday, scoring 32 points to become the youngest 30-point scorer in the championship round since Magic Johnson (1980).

He shot an efficient 11-of-18 from the court and stuffed the box score with eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals, leaving the kind of imprint only a 7-foot-4 potential alien could make.

If anyone thought Wembanyama, 22, had hit a wall and was too young to win a championship, Game 3 offered a rebuke. He looked plenty capable of hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy later this month. Three more wins and he will.