Sports

The Three Worst Decisions From Refs in Knicks-Spurs Game 3 That Prove Mike Brown Was Kind of Right

By Kristen Wong Sports Illustrated

The Spurs were never going to go down without a fight in the NBA Finals, and that's exactly what they brought to Game 3 against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Victor Wembanyama helped lift San Antonio to its first win of the series on the road in Monday night's 115-111 thriller, playing by far his best game in front of a heavily pro-New York crowd (32 points on 11-of-18 shooting).

But Game 3 wasn't without its fair dose of controversy. After the loss, Knicks coach Mike Brown criticized the NBA referees for what he seemed to think was an unfair whistle for the home team, especially when it came to free throws.

"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," Brown said postgame.

The Spurs got into the bonus very early in the fourth quarter, which was a big reason why they were awarded so many more free throws than the Knicks. Credit to Wemby & Co. for being able to grind out the game down the stretch against a feisty and resilient Knicks side, but there did appear to be at least a few key calls that deserve more scrutiny.

Here are three of the worst decisions from the refs during the Spurs' Game 3 win:

Victor Wembanyama escapes a foul after shoving Jalen Brunson to the ground in first quarter

It didn't take long for things to get chippy, as Wembanyama appeared to shove Brunson to the ground off the ball on a Knicks' possession in the first quarter. While battling for position at the top of the key, Wemby clearly extended his left arm to push Brunson in the back of his neck and send the Knicks star guard to the floor. Brunson immediately got up and confronted the Spurs big man, who had a smirk on his face.

In the moment, ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson said he thought it was a clear flagrant 1 foul while noting that "Wemby's laughing at it."

No foul was called, though tensions remained high early in the game. Knicks' Josh Hart later got called for a technical foul for a tussle with Spurs' Luke Kornet.

"Whatever you saw is what you saw," Brunson said postgame of his run-in with Wemby.

It's worth nothing that Wembanyama currently has accumulated two flagrant foul points as a result of his ejection in Game 4 of the Spurs-Timberwolves series earlier this postseason. If he exceeds three points, he would face an automatic one-game suspension.

Wembanyama doesn't get called for his closeout on Josh Hart's three, but Brunson got a flagrant for a similar defensive play

In the third quarter, Brunson received a flagrant foul for what the refs deemed a "reckless" closeout while trying to block Julian Champagnie's three-pointer. The replay showed Brunson, with his back turned, jumping toward Champagnie and then arguably interfering with the Spurs sharpshooter's landing space-Champagnie came down on Brunson's left foot and tumbled backward to really sell the call.

"If I see your feet near me, I'm going to search them out," Champagnie said earlier this year regarding the NBA's closeout rules on three-pointers.

That call in itself seemed fair enough. However, later in the game Wembanyama tried to close down Josh Hart on a three-pointer, and he also stuck his foot into Hart's landing space. Despite the contact, Hart, who remained upright, was still able to sink the three.

Wemby's closeout on Hart doesn't look that different from Brunson's closeout on Champagnie, yet one was called and one wasn't.

Dylan Harper doesn't get penalized for walking onto the court after Knicks inbound ball in fourth quarter

In one of the more critical moments of the fourth quarter, Spurs' Dylan Harper walked onto the court after the Knicks inbounded the ball in an effort to stall the game for a chance at a review, per ESPN commentators.

Rather than penalize Harper with a technical for the blatant delay of game, the refs, who had already called the play dead, instead decided to just re-do the inbounds and allow the Spurs to substitute in Harper. The Knicks also lost a bit of time on the shot clock due to the snafu.

Prior to the refs blowing the whistle to stop the game, the Knicks got OG Anunoby an open look for a three-pointer. New York was down 106-100 at that point.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Three Worst Decisions From Refs in Knicks-Spurs Game 3 That Prove Mike Brown Was Kind of Right.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 9:19 AM.

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