The San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks 115-111 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday largely thanks to superstar big man Victor Wembanyama, who tallied a team-high 32 points (11-18 FG, 2-4 3-point) with eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks, two steals and one turnover over 39 minutes. However, the league's senior vice president of referee development and training admitted that the 22-year-old should've finished with four fouls instead of three.
Wembanyama shoved Brunson to the ground away from the ball with about five minutes left in the first quarter during a Knicks possession, but wasn't called for a foul. Monty McCutchen, who is the aforementioned senior vice president, said that a foul should've been called during his appearance on "NBA Today," per ESPN.
Despite that, the league chose to not upgrade the uncalled foul to a flagrant on Tuesday, per ESPN's Shams Charania. Wembanyama stays at two flagrant points in the postseason, and a Flagrant 2 upgrade would've automatically suspended him for a game.
Refereeing Remains at Forefront of Knicks-Spurs
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The no-call on Wembanyama wasn't the only contentious officiating-related topic from Game 3. New York head coach Mike Brown didn't appreciate that the Spurs took 24 second-half free throws against the Knicks' eight, which he spoke about postgame, per SNY.
"I never thought I'd be in an NBA Finals and see 24 free throw attempts to another team's eight in the second half…San Antonio's a great team…It's gonna lower our odds big time if in Game 4 they get 24 second-half free throws to our eight," he said.
Game 2 was similar in that regard, as New York took just five second-half free throws, three of which came after a successful challenge when OG Anunoby got fouled on a corner three-point shot in the fourth quarter. Both games were decided in the final seconds, as the Knicks won that contest 105-104.
New York now leads the series 2-1 ahead of Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The road teams have won all three matchups so far, as the Knicks won 105-95 in San Antonio in Game 1 before another road win in Game 2. The Spurs then won in New York on Monday.
Wednesday's game tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ABC. Game 5 will start at the same time on Saturday, but in San Antonio.
