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The difference between a 3-1 lead and a 2-2 tie is a likely parade vs. everything up for grabs.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a> NEW YORK \u2013 Learning from a loss is one of those time-tested sports truisms beloved by coaches. Winning is boisterous, with a swagger that tends to validate anything that contributed or led up to it.<\/p>\n Losing is a setback, a punch in the nose that can get players\u2019 attention and provide some teachable moments.<\/p>\n The challenge for the New York Knicks is that, prior to their 115-111 defeat<\/a> by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals<\/a> Monday at Madison Square Garden, it had been so darn long since they\u2019d even known the feeling. For 13 consecutive playoff games, dating back to April 23, all the Knicks did was win.<\/p>\n So after nearly seven weeks, the first question heading into Game 4 Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC<\/a>) was whether the Knicks needed to re-learn how to learn from a loss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have, what, 13 games in a row, 50 days of film to show what it looks like when we\u2019re at our best,\u201d New York center Karl-Anthony Towns said. \u201cWe\u2019ll get back to our fundamentals, what makes us great, what made us great.\u201d<\/p>\n Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said: \u201cWin, we learn. Lose, we learn. We understand what we have to do to be better. Giving our team a chance to have the ball and not turn it over. Stop fouling.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Association crew break down what the Knicks and Spurs need to do in order to win Game 4.<\/p>\n The outcome that spoiled the party at Madison Square Garden Monday wasn\u2019t any unraveling or flop by the Knicks. But it was a departure from how they had been playing through the winning streak and it breathed life into a young Spurs team that might have been emotionally intimidated had they fallen behind in the series 3-0.<\/p>\n At 2-1, San Antonio is brimming with confidence and eager to keep this road-victories series on track. The Knicks can\u2019t worry about how they or their rabid fan base might react to a second straight loss at MSG.<\/p>\n The difference between a 3-1 lead and a 2-2 tie is a likely parade vs. everything up for grabs, with the Spurs holding home court in a best-of-three.<\/p>\n New York didn\u2019t spend time on the practice court Tuesday, instead drilling down in a video session so unlike the ones they\u2019d been zipping through since April.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what we did today,\u201d Brunson said, \u201cwe were going to learn and get better, whether it\u2019s on the court or in the film room. Sometimes learning and understanding the attention to detail just by watching, seeing what we did wrong, is just as important.\u201d<\/p>\n What can the Knicks learn from this loss? Let us count:<\/p>\n 1. Ball movement<\/p>\n The offensive verve so evident during the winning streak and in Games 1 and 2 got dialed down Monday. San Antonio\u2019s defense was feistier but by their own admission, the Knicks got stagnant, with less ball or body movement.<\/p>\n They had only 18 assists, compared to 49 in the first two games. And when the ball did move, it too often wound up in the wrong hands \u2013 the Spurs cashed in for 21 points off New York\u2019s 13 turnovers, 14 more points than the Knicks got off takeaways.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of times where the decisions weren\u2019t made quick,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cOne guy caught, held, held, held, held, held. Now the defense settles in. Now you\u2019re in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n One or two dribbles and a pass, again and again, can help a lot.<\/p>\n It\u2019s always interesting how five players on the court and a bench full of coaches can see such stagnation, yet not fix it in real time.<\/p>\n Knicks forward Mikal Bridges nodded when asked about that quandary.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes if we\u2019re catching it and we\u2019re not making the move \u2026 it may be stuck, none of us are helping the next guy out,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cNobody is giving them the pass. Again, I think we kind of stand [still] and ball watching puts that guy in tough situations.<\/p>\n \u201cIf somebody\u2019s near them, we can come to the ball or do something to help the next guy out.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Defensive energy<\/p>\n The Spurs adjusted their attack for Game 3, getting Victor Wembanyama more available and active in the paint. The Knicks took away less than in the first two games.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially early in games, yeah, you have to put pressure on the rim because it\u2019s the most efficient shot,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cThen we look for other options.\u201d<\/p>\n New York took little away from the Spurs through the first three quarters, seemingly intent on just outscoring the visitors. Offense dried up on both ends in the fourth, but the Knicks got outscored 10-4 from the free throw line in that quarter, fouling as a poor substitute for defense.<\/p>\n \u201cThe details that made us special, we were too relaxed in them,\u201d Towns said, \u201cand we didn\u2019t execute them at the level that you guys are used to seeing. \u2026 Just the fundamentals of what our team is and how we play, we didn\u2019t do that for 48 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying around with the game against a great team, you\u2019re asking for a disaster, and that\u2019s what we got.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Toughen up<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s gripes about the officiating in his postgame media session Monday seemed half-hearted and he knows that, given the level of contact the these games have, his team needs to match San Antonio, especially away from the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to up our level of physicality, especially at the start of the games, and try to maintain it throughout the course without fouling,\u201d the Knicks coach said.<\/p>\n 4. Start stronger<\/p>\n New York has fallen behind by at least 10 points in the first quarter of each game so far. It has been outscored by 28 points in those 36 cumulative minutes, while outscoring San Antonio by 35 in the other three periods (108 minutes).<\/p>\n That\u2019s no way to seize a Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy and the Knicks know it.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I just think we need to be ready to go,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cVery vague thing to say. I think it\u2019s very simple, as well. Just need to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Find the hot hands<\/p>\n Josh Hart and OG Anunoby combined for 15-for-23 shooting and 44 points in Game 3, compared to 11-for-31 and 37 points in Games 1 and 2 combined. But both seemed relegated to bailing out possessions, rather than getting opportunities created for them.<\/p>\n 6. KAT needs to be busy late<\/p>\n No New York player has logged more court time in the fourth quarter than Towns. That\u2019s how valuable he is as a primary defender on Wembanyama. Yet he hasn\u2019t scored a point in that period, which limits the effectiveness of his team\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n The Knicks center brushed off a question about it Tuesday, deferring to the game plan.<\/p>\n But Brown said: \u201cIt\u2019s extremely important that he\u2019s getting touches, that he\u2019s involved, not just in the fourth quarter but obviously throughout the ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. Be quick but don\u2019t hurry<\/p>\n This is an old aphorism of John Wooden, when the Wizard of Westwood was coaching champions at UCLA. In this case, it applies not to a particular style of play but the ability of the Knicks not to extend this series any longer than necessary.<\/p>\n Every extra game is more time for the young Spurs team, and Wembanyama in particular, to get more comfortable and confident. After that comes crafty. The Spurs are not content to bide their time and ask permission to try this again next spring.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve learned?\u201d Wembanyama said, repeating a question before beginning partly in jest.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, many things over these playoffs. Many things,\u201d he said. \u201cBrace with your hands and not with your chin. Hit below the head, if you do.\u201d<\/p>\n Those were references to his concussion in the first round against Portland and his Flagrant 2 elbow into Minnesota big man Naz Reid\u2019s neck in the semis.<\/p>\n But then he stopped joking.<\/p>\n \u201cMany other things,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cMost importantly be relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n New York needs to match that, so that\u2019s lesson No. 8.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Complete coverage:\u00a02026 NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n