If you're thinking the New York Knicks are being unfairly treated in the 2026 NBA Finals by the officiating team, you're not alone.
Following Monday's Game 3 loss to the Spurs, head coach Mike Brown eviscerated the blatant foul shot disparity between New York and San Antonio, saying to reporters that he "never thought" he'd see a team shoot 24 free throws in the second half of the championship round compared to just eight by their opponent.
"All the shots we took [in the second half], we got fouled four times, roughly, for eight free throw attempts," Brown sarcastically questioned.
On the night, the Knicks were out-visited at the charity stripe 32 to 22.
Sadly, this is not the first time in this series that the disparity in attempts has been painfully lopsided, as San Antonio shot 25 free throws to New York's 18 in Game 1, then went on to take 27 to New York's 21 in Game 2.
Now, while Brown did make it a point during his tirade to note that he fully understands that the Knicks may have deserved some of the calls they got, he directly followed that up by saying the Spurs "foul too."
This very real fact was put on full display all throughout the club's 115-111 demise, and, just like the egregious shove Victor Wembanyama made to Jalen Brunson, for example, whistles rarely seemed to be properly blown.
Knicks needed more than just a few favorable calls to have won Game 3
Though the stark contrast in free throws certainly played a role in their ultimate demise, the Knicks didn't lose solely because of it.
As Brown even admitted, the Spurs "came and took the game."
Throughout the 48-minute slug-fest, New York struggled mightily in a number of key areas of the game.
From coughing up 13 turnovers and allowing 21 points directly off of them to going a ridiculously putrid 2-for-14 from deep in the final period of regulation, the Knicks kicked off the 21st Century's first NBA Finals game held at Madison Square Garden rather sloppily.
Now, granted, there certainly were some highlight takeaways from the contest, such as Mitchell Robinson's four offensive boards in seven minutes of action and Jordan Clarkson's 10 points off the pine.
Despite these positives, however, their previously noted blunders, coupled with the uneven foul calls, proved a recipe for disaster.
Hopefully the gut-punch feeling of this loss, along with Mikal Bridges' full understanding of how quickly things can change after letting up Game 3 of the NBA Finals, will keep the Knicks laser-focused on pulling a 180 heading into Wednesday's Game 4.
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