The San Antonio Spurs closed the gap on the New York Knicks in Game 3, pulling to within a game. In Game 2, the Spurs blew their momentum late in the game, and it haunted Victor Wembanyama.
With their 115-111 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the Spurs are seemingly back in it. Only four teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the Finals, but no team has ever come back from down 3-0, so the Spurs are in a better position now than they were before tipoff.
After a late-game blunder in Game 2, Victor Wembanyama came out aggressive, physical, and intense to kick off Game 3. He finished with 32 points and eight rebounds, further cementing himself as the best player in the world.
The Spurs won Game 3 on the back of Wembanyama, although a costly turnover in Game 2 makes room for an argument that they lost that game because of the superstar. With a chip on his shoulder and the motivation to do better, the Spurs expected him to take control.
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In Games 1 and 2, Wembanyama put up solid counting stats but was inefficient on offense and often looked contained, thanks to great defense by Karl-Anthony Towns.
Before a must-win Game 3, Wembanyama put his head down and reflected on the work he needed to put in.
"I would say it's the way that everybody would think a great player would react," said De'Aaron Fox of how the Spurs expected Wembanyama to respond in Game 3. "Obviously, he was upset with himself. It's not even about the missed shots. You know, he would kill himself more about the turnover at the end of the game. And those things happen. But there was definitely no inkling that I thought that he wouldn't come out here and respond the way that he did."
After combining for ten turnovers in the first two games of the Finals, Wembanyama settled down, only recording one in Game 3. It's the immediate fixing of problems that separates him from the rest of the league.
"Victor has numerous sources of motivation," added Mitch Johnson. "And I don't think any of us are surprised or would expect anything different than a strong performance and him being on his front foot in terms of being in attack mode."
With Game 4 also in New York City, the Spurs will be looking to even the series up on Wednesday night.
