NBA Finals: Wembanyama leads Spurs' assault on Madison Square Garden

The San Antonio Spurs spoiled the party prepared at Madison Square Garden to celebrate what they anticipated to be the New York Knicks third win in the NBA Finals. Led by a resurgent Victor Wembanyama who bounced back from the mistakes that contributed to the Spurs Game 2 loss, San Antonio's team is back to believing in their chances of lifting the ring with their 115-111 victory.

The Gallic star came up big with 32 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists for his team to prevail under the stifling atmosphere against them at Madison Square Garden, which was also attended by Donald Trump.

San Antonio also ended the Knicks' streak of 13 consecutive wins in these playoffs and avoided falling behind 3-0, a distance no team has ever come back from.

"We're not even halfway there. The hardest part is yet to come"

"We've done what we needed to do, but the job is far from done," Wembanyama said. "We're not even halfway there. The hardest part is yet to come," he acknowledged in statements picked up by AFP.

The 22-year-old French phenom was the second-youngest player to accumulate more than 30 points, five rebounds and five assists in a title game, after Earvin Magic Johnson did it at the age of 20. The center held the visitors on both ends of the court but it was point guard Stephon Castle, 21, who made the decisive baskets.

Brown charges against the referees

For his part, Mike Brown, local coach, congratulated his rival for the win while launching a strong allegation against the refereeing. "They won but I never thought I would see in an NBA Finals a team have 24 free throws in the second half and the other only eight," Brown cried out. "Maybe we fouled, but so did they."

The Knicks of Jalen Brunson, who finished with 32 points, wanted to treat their passionate fans to a win and put themselves in position to clinch the title in Wednesday's fourth game, again in New York.

Youngsters with character

However, if the Knicks thought the atmosphere would be the final straw for the young Spurs, they soon found out that the Texans were not going to be intimidated. This was graphically evidenced by Wembanyama in the first quarter, when he gave a push to the local star Brunson that ended with him on the floor.

Along with the Welshman, young Castle, who scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half, commanded the Spurs' initial push, which led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter. The inevitable reaction of the locals came after several refereeing decisions that energized the stands. In fact, they even went ahead four minutes before halftime with a three-pointer by Brunson.

Castle and the defense stifled the Knicks' final surge

But the young Spurs, the squad that dethroned the champion Oklahoma City Thunder, would not be undone in the Madison pressure cooker. Wembanyama held San Antonio steady and, when the Spurs were locked in three scoreless minutes, Castle nailed a far three-pointer that separated them at seven points (111-108) with three minutes left.

Brunson and OG Anunoby's attempts to catch the Spurs collided with other decisive actions by Castle and De'Aaron Fox to ruin the most anticipated party in Madison. A demonstration of basketball and character that allows the Texans to take the first step toward what would be a historic comeback by prevailing under the crazy atmosphere in New York against the Knicks.