The San Antonio Spurs hold on in the final seconds to take Game 3 and snap the New York Knicks 13-game playoff winning streak.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a> SAN ANTONIO \u2014 There was perhaps a collective groan among Spurs Nation when a certain player who, moments earlier, stumbled over his feet and turned the ball over in a tense moment, and who frankly misfired most of the night\u00a0\u2026\u00a0suddenly had the ball in his hands with the outcome at stake.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0on the most crucial possession of the season for the San Antonio Spurs, this player then took the biggest shot of the season, with the Spurs\u2019\u00a0life in the 2026 NBA Finals<\/a> on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n Was he crazy?\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes\u00a0\u2026\u00a0like a Fox.\u00a0<\/p>\n Suffice to say Game 3 wasn\u2019t going well for De\u2019Aaron Fox until that moment, and honestly, neither has the series. And that\u2019s being kind. Fox has struggled with his shooting, made some mistakes, had stretches where he was hurting the Spurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n But funny thing about the championship series: None of that matters in the moment of truth. All of those sins can be washed away with a play that tips the game in your team\u2019s favor\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a steal, defensive stop, rebound in traffic or, in Fox\u2019s case, a pull-up jumper with 12 seconds left just when the Spurs suddenly looked familiarly vulnerable while holding a slippery three-point lead over the New York Knicks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t we see this in the previous two games, both losses, those shaky situations that put the Spurs in this desperate situation, this must-win Monday?\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Play of the Day: De’Aaron Fox drops a clutch jumper late in the 4th quarter of Game 3.<\/p>\n Fox waved off Victor Wembanyama \u2014\u00a0who carried the Spurs all night and common sense screamed that he should\u2019ve been the shot-taker instead\u00a0\u2014\u00a0then shook OG Anunoby off the dribble to calmly dropped the biggest shot of his life. Is that hyperbole? Maybe not. Again, given his issues, the electric atmosphere at Madison Square Garden that banged inside the eardrums of the Spurs, and the urgent stakes, this would be Fox\u2019s defining moment in this series one way or another.<\/p>\n The jumper from the free-throw line proved to be the cushion the Spurs needed, for they next had to endure an Anunoby corner 3-pointer before wiping their brow and walking off the court with a suspenseful four-point victory, which shaved their series deficit to 2-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, making that shot, it\u2019s a make-or-miss league a lot of times,\u201d\u00a0Fox said.\u00a0\u201cA lot of times it\u2019s get to your spot. If you miss that shot, it is what it is. You try to make that shot more often than not, obviously. It feels good to hit a big shot down the stretch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to the shot, Fox snuck behind Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns and provided a big block<\/a> with just over two minutes left to preserve a six-point lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maybe the Knicks \u2014 and everyone who wondered about Fox in this series \u2014 must\u2019ve forgot De\u2019Aaron Fox was the first winner of the NBA\u2019s Kia Clutch Player of the Year<\/a> award, back in 2022-23? Well, everyone\u2019s memory has now been refreshed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked about the level of trust in Fox in those moments, Wemby said:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not even a question, that\u2019s his identity. The trust is just complete. We know he\u2019s as reliable as they get and experienced at that, so he brings everything we need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Spurs are hoping to change the conversation in this series by employing a three-guard lineup of Fox, Stephon Castle and rookie Dylan Harper down the stretch. This is their second-best weapon after Wemby. Castle scored 23 points in Game 3 and was a solid scoring support for Wemby, Harper once again scored in double figures and is the youngest player to do so in NBA Finals history (and also had a team-high nine rebounds) and Fox provided the biggest shot.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big thing (going forward) is how can we sustain the way that we\u2019re playing,\u201d\u00a0said Fox.\u00a0<\/p>\n He arrived in San Antonio with much celebration and anticipation two years ago from Sacramento. With the Kings, led helped lead a renaissance with that franchise, made them fun and interesting, put them in the playoffs for the first time in, like, forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n But he wasn\u2019t sure about the Kings\u2019\u00a0future, and his contract was almost up. Fox looked for a max deal, and it became a situation where a separation was best for both parties.\u00a0<\/p>\n Upon arriving in San Antonio and signing an extension with the Spurs, Fox (now 28) was the potential Missing Piece, an All-Star at the very crucial point guard position. He could provide scoring, leadership for a young core, and give the Spurs a pick-and-roll weapon with Wemby.\u00a0<\/p>\n And all was well\u00a0\u2026\u00a0until the Finals began and Fox looked lethargic. Yes, he suffered an ankle injury and probably isn\u2019t 100% healthy this series, but everyone\u2019s dealing with some level of discomfort this deep into the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fox missed the first two games in the Western Conference Finals<\/a> with the injury and shot just 36% in the series upon returning. He then missed 10 of 13 shots in Game 1 against the Knicks, and was 3-for-13 in Game 3 \u2014\u00a0missing all of his five attempts from deep as well\u00a0\u2014\u00a0before his final shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u00a0just\u00a0continue to play the right way,\u201d\u00a0he said, regarding those misses.\u00a0\u201cI think that\u2019s all it is. Make or miss, I\u2019m not just going to be forcing shots because I\u2019m hot or because I\u2019m missing shots.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He tripped and fell and lost the ball<\/a> just a few possessions before that shot, with a chance to extend the Game 3 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Curiously, Fox had a Game 2 stare-down moment with Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, who rushed to the defense of his son Jalen after the players exchanged words, and the father yelled at Fox:\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re not tough. You\u2019re not tough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Well, Fox saved his response until the final seconds of the very next game. A tough response, it turned out.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Fox hoop we gotta series! \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n \u2014 Lonzo Ball (@ZO2_) June 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n He certainly is a key figure against the Knicks if only because the Spurs have been competitive through three games in spite of his troubles. As Lonzo Ball said Monday on social media<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cIf Fox hoop we gotta series!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Well, it\u2019s 2-1 Knicks. Maybe we do.\u00a0<\/p>\n And maybe with that shot, Fox will turn the corner. This much is for certain: San Antonio won\u2019t hesitate to choose him again in such situations, whether he\u2019s shooting well or not. Because in the Finals, all that matters is what you do to secure the win. And Fox has a documented history of being clutch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think Fox is such a smart player,\u201d\u00a0said Castle.\u00a0\u201cHaving the ball in his hands late is like a comfort thing for us. I feel like whether he\u2019s shooting the ball well or not, he generates a good shot for us pretty much every time. I think his ability to touch the paint against whoever, whether it\u2019s a layup for himself like he did late or finding kick-outs\u00a0\u2026\u00a0those are all big-time plays. I mean, the box score doesn\u2019t always show it. The way he\u2019s affected our team all year is the reason why we\u2019re here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at\u00a0spowell@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Antonio Spurs hold on in the final seconds to take Game 3 and snap the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,351045,590,85],"class_list":["post-724796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-deaaron-fox-game-3","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022\u00a0Complete coverage:\u00a02026 NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n