'I'm baffled': Mike Brown makes his feelings clear on officiating after Game 3 loss to Spurs

The New York Knicks' last loss was on Apr 23. It took until Monday night at Madison Square Garden, in front of a sold-out crowd hosting its first NBA Finals game since 1999, for the San Antonio Spurs to end that run.

San Antonio won 115-111 in Game 3 to cut the series deficit to 2-1. Mike Brown walked out of his postgame press conference with receipts.

"I will say this: 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," Brown said. "I don't think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team. They are a great team, OK. It's going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play Game 4, and in the second half, they get 24 free throw attempts to our eight.

"Maybe we were fouling. Maybe we were fouling. But they fouled, too."

For the full game, the Spurs went 25-of-32 from the line. New York shot 18-of-22. The disparity was entirely a second-half story, with San Antonio drawing 14 free throw attempts in the third quarter alone to New York's three.

The Knicks were whistled for 15 fouls in the second half compared to San Antonio's 10, and New York spent the final 9:18 of the fourth quarter in the penalty.

Brown said he confronted the officials directly.

"Yeah, I talked to them [the officials]," he stated. "They outshot us 14-3 in the third quarter from the free throw line. I talked to them, and they said, well, this is a foul, this is a foul. I said, okay, may be right, but here are examples where they fouled and it didn't get called. That's the question I had with them is, you're right. Maybe we did foul. But they fouled, too".  

He later added: "And then like I said, maybe we fouled 24 times, but I'm baffled that they only fouled eight in the second half".

Knicks coach Mike Brown on the referees in Game 3: “I never thought I’d be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight. I don’t think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free throw… pic.twitter.com/OcLFG7EjLP

Victor Wembanyama scored 32 points; he captured the night simply.

"At home it really feels like playing six against five," he said. "Here, it feels like five against six. It really shows what teams are made of."

Game 4 is Wednesday at MSG. Brown's post-game comments could draw a league fine. The free throw ledger from the second half will be the number every Knicks fan carries into Wednesday night.

More news:

• ESPN Insider claims Miami Heat have more check marks and believes Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to be there
• Eric Weddle says he's 'still feeling' his 2022 comeback and Aaron Donald should hear it
• Analyst makes his case for the Browns and it's hard to fully dismiss
• Jay Williams says Jalen Brunson is the antithesis of the NBA's problems
• Deion Sanders has a message for everyone talking about Shedeur Sanders $17.7M NFL record
• Analyst shuts down Rams-Dream Team comparisons over Myles Garrett