There will be no sweep in the 2026 NBA Finals, as the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks 115-111 in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Jalen Brunson led the way for the Knicks on the night with a 30-point outing, but not everyone was impressed by his performance.
ESPN analyst and Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith called out Brunson on SportsCenter after the game for playing with the goal of winning Finals MVP.
“I’m shocked to have to say this because he’s a superstar,” Smith said. “We’re so appreciative of what he has done for the New York Knicks organization. We know who Jalen Brunson is and what he represents, but tonight it looked like he was playing to be an MVP rather than playing to win Game 3. 25 shots in the time that he played.
“Karl-Anthony Towns only gets 10 attempts, four in the second half,” Smith continued. “How does that happen? Josh Hart is hitting shots in the first half. He only gets five shots in the second half. How did that happen? 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 showing if you’re Jalen Brunson in this series?
“You’ve attempted 81 shots,” Smith added. “You’re shooting about 34% from the field, about 24% from three-point range. Why in God’s name would you continue to shoot, shoot, shoot when you got cats around you who are capable of making shots?”
Brunson finished Game 3 with 32 points (11-25 FG), five rebounds, and five assists. The 29-year-old also committed five turnovers.
You can understand Brunson wanting to take shots late in games because he is one of the best clutch performers in the NBA. There is no excuse for his not getting his teammates more involved earlier in the game, though, especially when they have it going and he doesn’t.
OG Anunoby was on a tear in Game 3, finishing with 28 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. There is no way Anunoby should have only attempted 13 shots, though. Karl-Anthony Towns has to be more involved in the offense, too. Towns had 11 points on 4-10 shooting from the field here. It was his first subpar showing of the series.
After an impressive Game 2 outing, both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal named Towns as Finals MVP. Smith appears to believe Brunson was trying to snatch the lead in that race here. The three-time All-Star ended up hurting his case.
Brunson is now averaging 27.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game in the Finals, while shooting 37.0% from the field and 31.8% from beyond the arc. He has been woefully inefficient.
The Knicks have also been going further and further away from what worked for them in the playoffs as this series has gone on. What had sparked that incredible 13-game win streak was the offense running through Towns. We had seen fewer isolation plays for Brunson, but they’re now going back to the way they played during the regular season.
Barkley has noticed that as well and made it clear on Inside the NBA after the game that Towns has to be more involved.
“I think the Knicks are reverting back to the way they played, too much Brunson-[centric],” Barkley said. “When they were winning, when they were blowing out teams, sweeping teams, they would get KAT involved more… They didn’t use KAT at all tonight.”
Now, some of this is on Towns, too. Brunson was in foul trouble during this game, and the big man should have looked to stamp his authority when his co-star was on the bench. Towns simply failed to step up during those stretches.
All that said, this is not exactly a doom-and-gloom situation. The Knicks are up 2-1 and still have home-court advantage after winning both games in San Antonio. They’re the favorites and will look to get back to winning ways in Game 4, which tips off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
