NBA Finals Controversy: NBA Admits Missed Foul by Victor Wembanyama on Jalen Brunson in Game 3

After giving Jalen Brunson a forceful shove during the first quarter of the San Antonio Spurs’ Game 3 victory against the New York Knicks on Monday night, Victor Wembanyama, a prominent player for the Spurs, should have been called for a foul due to the incident.

During his appearance on ESPN on Tuesday, Monty McCutchen, who is in charge of officiating for the National Basketball Association (NBA), said that a foul was missed at the moment. On Tuesday night, the league conducted an investigation into the incident, but ultimately decided against assessing a flagrant foul retroactively.

When Brunson attempted to lay a screen on Wembanyama during the first quarter of the Spurs’ 115-111 victory at Madison Square Garden, Wembanyama obviously shoved Brunson forcefully with both hands. Brunson was unable to avoid the contact. Despite the fact that Brunson did not fall all the way down to the court, he was forced to brace himself on the floor as a result of the shove, which caused the people in the arena to become aroused. While the action was still going on, Brunson rushed up and momentarily got in Wembanyama’s face before placing another screen on him.

A foul was not called, and Brunson stated unequivocally, “Whatever you saw is what you saw,” in reference to the incident that occurred after the game.

It was Wembanyama who ultimately led the Spurs to victory on Monday night, which resulted in a four-point victory. This victory was the Spurs’ first victory of the series, since they had lost the first two games within their own stadium the previous week. 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists were all on his stat sheet.

Although he led the Knicks in scoring with 32 points and five assists, Brunson also committed five turnovers during the game. Madison Square Garden played host to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, when the game was played there.

Michael Brown, the coach of the New York Knicks, criticized the officials after the game, despite the fact that Brunson did not want to get too involved. In the second half, his most significant problem was the disparity in his free throw percentage. During the final twenty-four minutes of the game, the Spurs made 24 tries from the free throw line, while the Knicks only made eight. Brown commented, “I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight.” When it comes to the free-throw attempts, I don’t think I have a lot of complaints about the officials or the fairness of the situation… This evening, I witnessed it in an NBA Finals game, which is something I never imagined I would experience. The fact that you are competing against a fantastic team makes it difficult to triumph over that.

In order to be fair, the Knicks attempted a total of 22 free throws during the rest of the game. “We were definitely fouling a lot,” Brunson remarked on the Spurs’ offense, which resulted in 32 shots.

If a flagrant foul had been assessed retroactively, it would have been the second big incident that Wembanyama has been involved in thus far during these postseason. After striking Naz Reid in the chin with his elbow during their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves a month ago, he was dismissed from the game for the very first time in his professional career.

However, given that the foul was not called at the time, the game has already been played, and the National Basketball Association chose not to escalate the situation, there is not much room for redress. The league acknowledged that Wembanyama was able to get away with one.

All Betting Predictions & Picks 6-11-2026

All Sports Predictions

BETTING SCHOOL
NFL Predictions and Picks
NBA Predictions and Picks
MLB Predictions and Picks
College Basketball Predictions and Picks
College Football Predictions and Picks
NHL Predictions and Picks
UFC Predictions and Picks
Soccer Predictions and Picks
Sports News
SIGN UP NOW

Visit the Betting School and learn how to wager on the moneyline, spread, and total; on your favorite team or an undervalued underdog. Sign up with YouWager.lv now and get in the game with the best welcome bonus, click below:

NBA Finals Controversy: NBA Admits Missed Foul by Victor Wembanyama on Jalen Brunson in Game 3