Stephen A. Smith Blasts Jalen Brunson After Knicks' Game 3 Loss at MSG

The New York Knicks came into Madison Square Garden on Monday night riding a 13-game winning streak and a 2-0 series lead on the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. They left with a 115-111 loss and momentum back in the Spurs’ favor.

A sweep is now off the table, and the series is very much alive as both teams head into a Game 4 on Wednesday night with the Knicks up 2-1.

The Spurs came out swinging from the jump, outscoring the Knicks 33-22 in the first quarter. New York came back strong in the second, going on a monster 42-24 run, but they couldn’t hold it. San Antonio outscored them 35-27 in the third quarter and held firm in the fourth.

Victor Wembanyama finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three blocks, while Stephon Castle added 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting, and four other players scored in double digits, including all five starters.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 32 points, five rebounds, and five assists, but he was inefficient, hitting just 11 of 25 shots from the field.

After the game, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith came for Brunson directly.

“Tonight, it looked like he was playing to be the MVP rather than playing to win Game 3,” Smith said. “25 shots in the time that he played. Karl-Anthony Towns only gets 10 attempts, four in the second half. How does that happen? Josh Hart is hitting shots in the first half, only gets five shots in the second half. OG Anunoby had 28 points on 13 shots. How do you not find OG Anunoby more, considering the level of accuracy and efficiency that he was showing, that you’re not if you’re Jalen Brunson?”

“Why would you continue to shoot, shoot, shoot when you’ve got cats around you that are capable of making shots, not to mention the fact that that’s what got you here,” Smith added. “They were out of character … And that’s why they’re only up 2-1 now instead of 3-0.”

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While Brunson led the team in scoring, he shot just 44% from the field. Meanwhile, OG Anunoby finished with 28 points hitting 69% of his shots, while Josh Hart ended with a clean line of 16 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, knocking down 60% of his shots.

KAT was even more surprising. After being the most dominant player across the first two games, he finished with just 11 points and eight rebounds, and took just 10 shots all game, the fewest amount since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks finished the game with just 18 assists, their lowest total in the playoffs, while the Spurs had 28.

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Now all eyes turn to Game 4 on Wednesday night back at MSG.

Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, and expectations are back on Brunson’s shoulders to keep this team in control of the series.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 11:38 AM.