The San Antonio Spurs dominated the New York Knicks 76-49 in the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Knicks shot just 29.4% in the first quarter and committed seven first-half turnovers, leading to a minus-11 differential in points off turnovers.
San Antonio set an NBA Finals record by converting 14 of 26 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half.
Physical Play and Frustration
The game featured several physical altercations involving Spurs center Victor Wembanyama.
He taunted Mitchell Robinson after a scoop layup, prompting a forearm shove to the neck that resulted in a Flagrant 1 foul.
Later in the third quarter, Wembanyama hit Karl-Anthony Towns in the chin with an elbow, earning his third playoff flagrant point.
He is now one flagrant foul away from an automatic one-game suspension.
The league had previously reviewed a controversial play from Game 3 where Wembanyama shoved Jalen Brunson, but decided against upgrading it to a flagrant foul.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown expressed strong dissatisfaction with the officiating, noting a 24-8 free-throw advantage for San Antonio in the second half of the previous game.
"I don't complain much. I never thought I'd see that in an NBA finals game, and I saw it tonight.
That's tough to overcome when you're playing against a great team," Brown said.
Brown acknowledged that internal errors also contributed to the loss. "We allowed them to hit first at the beginning of the game.
We turned the ball over and we were stagnant offensively," he stated.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson declined to comment on missed foul calls, saying, "Whatever you saw is what you saw."
Center Karl-Anthony Towns focused on internal execution. "That ain't cost us the game.
Turned the ball over. Didn't execute.
Didn't do what got us 13 straight wins in a row," Towns said.
Guard Mikal Bridges added that stagnant offensive play hindered their ability to solve the Spurs' defense. "Too much ball watching, standing around.
We just got to keep moving," Bridges said.
The series shifts back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday, June 13, 2026.
